Who's report is it???

A recent conversation with an experienced real estate agent has me seeing red.  No I'm not looking at a hot spot through my thermal imager either (although it might reveal steam pouring out my ears).

The conversation started innocently with a phone call from this agent. He is the listing agent of a home I recently inspected for my client.  The agent wanted to know if I had heard from my client (unrepresented) regarding the inspection and his decision.  I informed the agent that I had not heard from the client.  The agent's next question was "what was your clients general impression or inclination after the inspection?"  I politely reminded the agent that my duty was to perform a confidential inspection for my paying client and provide an unbiased report for him. I have no knowledge of my clients purchase decisions. I then recommended the agent consult with my client personally if he feels that client has not responded in a timely manner.

This is where it gets steamy... The agent then informed me that he "needed a copy of the report regardless of the outcome in order to provide the report to other potential buyers."

My jaw dropped. I thought I misunderstood this agent, so I repeated his statement. The agent acknowledged and said "YES... I NEED THE REPORT TO PROVIDE TO OTHER POTENTIAL BUYERS!" I was shaking my head still in disbelief.  I thought I had heard a lot in my years as an inspector, but this took things to a new level.

I began explaining to this agent that this practice was first and foremost theft from both my paying client and from my business. Second, I explained that this report was a CONFIDENTIAL document between my business and my client. The agent then fired back a statement that this was "THE LAW". I repeated to him "It's the law that you provided a confidential document to other 3rd party buyers to make a purchase decision off of?"  The agent shouted yes, told me to look it up, and that he didn't have time to argue these finer points.  He abruptly hung up on me.

This office has been in business since 1971. I find it simply amazing they have legally made it this long. I won't go into the ethical and moral opinions I have of this office now.

I took the agent's advice and consulted with numerous professionals and experts in the real estate field. Two of them were real estate attorneys and one of those teaches real estate law at the same college I am a faculty member of.  I found the answer (for which I knew all along).

This agent doesn't understand the liability he places on himself as well as my business for providing confidential documents to other non-paying buyers of the same home. Let alone the theft of services he is actively participating in from my business. Now he is giving a false sense of security to other buyers to rely on an out-of-date report for an ever changing structure condition.  I'm just scratching the surface here...  I know that a ruling in California now allows 3rd party buyers to sue (and win) against the original inspector even though the buyer was not a part of the inspection documents and agreements (not the inspector's client).  I can only imagine now that a similar scenario created that pandora's box.

While it's true that inspectors are often deemed an enemy to the sale... I encourage all of you to truly learn more about the key role an inspector plays for your clients and understand the real estate and disclosure laws as they pertain to your state and locality.  It's quite obvious this "seasoned" agent needs more than a brush-up.