Virginia Senate Bill 627, in its proposed language, will have an unfavorable outcome for most every home buyer in the Commonwealth of Virginia. 

The number of Home Inspection companies will be reduced because of the burden, risk and exposure associated with unlimited liability.  The ensuing price for a Home Inspection will increase dramatically for several reasons:  1) Simply supply and demand – fewer Inspectors reduces supply and the demand likely will not decline given the current and expected real estate market conditions;  2) Increasing the price of the Home Inspection will allow the creation of a greater “war chest” in the event of legal action being taken by a buyer because of unlimited liability; and 3) Increasing the price of the Home Inspection will be necessary because insurance costs will significantly rise due to the degree of unlimited exposure.

Many private and public business entities have limitation of liability clauses in their contracts and typically are associated with or tied to the amount of the fees that are charged to provide defined services. Our Visual Inspection Agreements provide for the same type of limitation. Why then is our business being regulated to such an extent when these are normal business practices?

Our role is to be a generalist. We don’t have a crystal ball to determine when an appliance will fail, a roof will leak or a basement flood due. Our service is delivered via a brief moment in time – and that is the time where we are visually evaluating a home.  We are prohibited from performing invasive or intrusive measures, so if something is lurking behind a wall or poor construction techniques were employed but not visible, how could a Home Inspector be liable for latent defects?

I am a licensed Home Inspector and ASHI Certified. I operate a small business in the Northern Virginia region and my team performs nearly 600 Home Inspections annually. I carry $1M in E&O and General Liability Insurance. Not once in 6 years have we had any situation requiring the involvement of our insurance carrier.

Integrity, truth and accuracy combine to make the Home Inspection business a truly professional service oriented industry.

Please consider the detrimental effect the Virginia Senate Bill 627 in its current form and language will have on your constituents.

Respectfully yours,

Kevin Dougherty