It's unusual for Sellers to be at the home inspection with me, and even more unusual for me to see the Sellers' disclosure statement. At one inspection, I had the pleasure of meeting the Sellers and reading their disclosure statement.

A quick glance at the disclosure statement showed most everything was checked "Don't know."

While the Buyers were reading my service agreement, I delved into the disclosure statement a little more and saw that the electric outlets were reported as "not working" in one of the bedrooms. Making a mental note of that so that I could look for a reason, I went on about my business.

When I went to inspect the electric panel, this is what I found:

Here in Southern California, we tend to put the electric panels, ugly though they are, at a front corner of the house, where they not only are visible but also accessible to the world. That wasn't a problem here because this one was not visible or accessible. I had to disclaim it.

In following up with my Clients a week later, I found out that the problem with the outlets in the bedroom was that the circuit breaker for that bedroom was off, but since you couldn't open the panel cover here, no one ever checked the circuit breakers. Well, duh.