In California, pest inspectors approve their own work. On the surface, you might assume that it makes sense for a pest inspector to sign off on a job -- since the inspector knows what to look for and all, but when you dig a little deeper, it seems a bit insane. This is how it works: first, the pest inspector looks for termites, powder post beetles, dryrot and so forth in the home. If the pest inspector finds damage, he or she issues a report describing the work that needs to be done. Then the pest company typically subcontracts the structural work, applies its pesticides and when the work is finished, issues a completion report.
The completion report is good for three months and remains on record at the Pest Control Board for two years. The problem that arises is when I have a home re-inspected, often the second pest inspector finds more work, stuff that was missed. A buyer's only leverage is to insist that the first company go back out and fix the problems. Naturally, the first company is reluctant to do this, so then we have to threaten to report it to the Pest Control Board because it issued the completion certificate.
Don't you believe that every pest completion should be issued by an independent third party?
Home buyers for a South Land Park home asked for a pest re-inspection because the listing agent ordered a pest report and received a completion certificate before the home was sold. So, the completion report had expired by the time my buyers went into escrow. Sure enough, the pest company sent out a different inspector dude who discovered not only did the house still have subterranean termites underneath, but the new piers that were poured were sitting directly on the ground without any footings!
We signed loan documents last night because the buyers are leaving town for the holidays. The work has yet to be completed. Discovering this little fiasco has made the buyers feel uneasy, so the listing agent came to the closing to bring documentation assuring them the work would be finished and done to code. I feel comfortable that the work will be done correctly this time; although, this is my first transaction with this agent, I've worked with his daughter on a South Land Park townhome 4 or 5 years ago, and I worked with his son on a home in Land Park. His entire family is in real estate. Very nice, hard-working and ethical agents.
I bet as nice as those agents are, they will never hire that particular pest company again. Word gets out in Sacramento, and I know who the bad pest companies are. When I see a report issued by one of them, you can bet I'm calling for a re-inspection. The pest inspection business in California should be overhauled and more closely regulated, but I'm betting we'll see that happen when pigs fly.
The Short Sale, by Elizabeth Weintraub, coming from publisher Archer Ellison in January 2009.
Photo: Big Stock Photo
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Certified HAFA Specialist
My Sacramento Real Estate Listings
Elizabeth Weintraub is an author, home buying columnist for The New York Times-owned About.com, a Land Park resident, and a Land Park real estate agent who specializes in older, classic homes in Land Park, Curtis Park, Midtown and East Sacramento. Weintraub is also a Sacramento Short Sale agent who lists and successfully sells short sales throughout the four-county Sacramento area. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Put 35 years of real estate experience to work for you. Broker-Associate at Lyon Real Estate. DRE License # 00697006.
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Elizabeth
Perhaps the pest inspection business should be overhauled. I would think that such a group would have a way of policing themselves for quality.
Sincerely
Tom Braatz
I agree with you about self inspection being a problem Elizabeth, but I think no one wants to pay even still another party, even if they are an independent set of eyes.
Elizabeth: This reminds me of some advice a mentoring agent once gave me. When representing a buyer, have the BUYER pay for the termite inspection, not the seller. Whether consciously or not, contractors seem to be loyal to the folks paying the bill, and if the seller is paying, what are they helping the seller cover up? $35 is a small price to pay for someone looking out for your best interests before you buy the house.
Hi Tom: Don't imagine you have a lot of problems with termites in your neck of the woods.
The thing is, Gary, the fee for issuing the completion certificate is included, so if you took it out, you could pay that fee to somebody else for an independent assessment.
Hi Chris Ann: Actually, pest companies have an incentive to charge the seller MORE because whatever they come up with as Section 1 work will be paid by the seller, as long as it's not a short sale or foreclosure. They're not in the business of covering up for the seller. If anything, they're in the business of making a ton of money on the required work. The problem is whether the work is done correctly.
However, I often advise my buyers to obtain a second pest inspection. We wait until the first pest company issues the clearance, because then the first company is on the hook. Our fees aren't $35 like yours. They run from $95 to $150 for a pest inspection, depending on whom you hire and whether the company is running any "specials."
I have always felt better when the inspector and the repair company were not connected. I feel the same way about Realtors and lenders.
Elizabeth,
Working with practically exclusively with condos, we are not familiar with the problems with pest instections. When we deal with a house, we call the home inspector and specify that we also need pest inspection and he arranges is.
In our area the inspection of the structural must be done by a licensed builder and reinspected by a builder that did not do the work.
wow - another piece of information to tuck into the memory bank - we do not have termites as of yet - I heard of a home this summer having them (about 30 miles away) but so far none like our temps I guess or the pumice ground
It certainly sounds like there needs to be much more oversight. Sometimes self-policing just doesn't qutie cut it.
Merry Christmas... or should I say Mele Kalikimaka? :)
Good comparison, Fred. :)
I imagine with condos it's up to the HOA to do pest work, isn't it, Jon?
Hi Terry: That's a good way to do it. I don't believe the person doing the work should issue their own completion certificate.
Hi Thesa: We didn't have much in the way of pests in MN, either, but we had other issues to contend with such as radon.
Hi Jesse: Yeah, I can't wait to go. Did you know the Hawaiian language has only 11 letters?
In our area, we usually have the pest control work done AFTER the close because that way if it falls through we don't have a bill waiting for someone. They issue the clearance letter and then do the work later. I guess each area does it differently.
Truly? Actually, no... I dind't know that.
Hey Barbara, so do you withhold 1 and 1/2 times the amount of the estimate from the seller's proceeds then? Because here, if a lender sees a pest report in the contract, the pest completion must be in hand at closing or funds withheld to pay for the work. And as you know, sometimes pest inspectors find more work once they start tearing into walls and what-not, so there has to be enough money in escrow to pay for those additional repairs. Since most sellers want all their money at closing, they do the completion before closing.
Hi Jesse: Actually, I think it's 12 letters, consisting of 5 vowels and 7 consonants.