A bad C.L.U.E. report can really mess up a transaction. Imagine this. A week before closing, your buyer tries to get home owner's insurance. The seller has only lived there for 2 years and nothing was mentioned to him when he bought it about some water damage claims the previous owner had 5 years ago. Just like points get posted to your driving record, insurance companies have a shared database where they make notes of all the claims filed on a property address. Some insurance companies will not even sell you a policy if there has been any sort of water related claims on a property. They have taken too many losses for black mold. The standard contract in Georgia doesn't have any contingency in it about getting insurance at a certain price or getting insurance at all.
A home seller can obtain a free report every year or buy one for $19.95. Choice Point is the company that has this database. But only the home owner can order one. So as a buyer, you need to write in a special stipulation requesting that the seller provide you with one. If they refuse, that should be a red flag that something isn't right. Or I guess one could make it contingent on the buyer being able to get insurance at standard rates. I would coach the buyer to look into getting the insurance set up as quickly as possible before too many other things start moving along.
Here's an extensive article with everything you ever wanted to know about CLUE Reports.
Tim Maitski
Atlanta real estate
Atlanta real estate agent
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