It's Not Over Yet

Remember that guy I wrote about yesterday? The one with the bad water heater. Seems it's not over yet. The buyer's agent called again this morning trying to get a copy of the inspection report. I told her that the buyer explicitly instructed us not to release the report to anyone but him.


"When did you talk to him?" the agent asked.

"Last week."

"I talked to him yesterday and he said it was okay."

"Tell him to call me and tell me it's okay. Unless he calls me and tells me it's okay, there's nothing I can do."

I immediately phoned Mark to let him know. In turn, he phoned the former prospective buyer who said that he had spoken with his agent yesterday and informed her that she could NOT have the report. He told Mark that she said she wanted to get a copy of it so she could help the seller sue Mark. (Really? Sue him for what? If the guy had maintained his property, he wouldn't have lost the sale.)

But it really bothers me that this agent told me an out and out lie in an attempt to get a report from me so she could turn around and help someone sue me.  Lying to me was bad enough, but lying to me to collect "evidence" to turn against me?? That's just outrageous.

Fortunately, the "buyer" (even though he's not buying that one) sees that Mark saved him from buying a money pit - a money pit that his agent was recommending. The buyer no longer trusts her. Given that he didn't want her to have a copy of the report, I assume that perhaps he never did.

Just wondering - should I file an ethics complaint against this agent? Or just wait to see what happens next.

Leaks, Explosions and Fixes

It's been a bit over a month since I posted anything. We took a couple of weeks off to spend time with family in the UK. Mark has been relatively busy since we got back and everything has been good, no issues. At least not until last week.

Last week he inspected a house that had a number of issues - a Federal Pacific electrical panel and a water heater that had reached the end of its useful life being at the top of the list. Based on the number and magnitude of issues, the buyer pulled out of the deal. It happens. The buyer is free to pull out of the deal without making the report available to the seller, which is what happened in this case.

Mark typically doesn't inform the seller of anything wrong unless it is a serious safety issue. The water heater on this particular house was a safety concern and the seller was notified. But the seller chose to ignore that information and Mark's recommendation to call a plumber. Instead, when the temperature pressure relief valve started leaking, the seller chose to call Mark to come back and fix it. (The temperature pressure relief valve is actually what keeps the thing from exploding. If it doesn't work, it needs to be replaced. Period. You could end up with this! Or worse.)

Mark is not obligated to "fix" things that aren't right in the house he's inspecting. He'd already advised the seller to call a plumber. But because he's a nice guy, Mark offered to email the seller information about replacing the temperature pressure relief valve. That wasn't good enough. The seller refused to provide me with an email address and insisted that Mark call him or better still, just come by and fix it.

Mark phoned the seller. He told him how to change the temperature pressure relief valve and advised him to get a plumber if he wasn't able to do it himself. (The part is less than $20.) The seller called me back again the next day to tell me that Mark's information was useless and that either Mark or the buyer needed to come by his house and fix it. By this time, it had been leaking for several days. Mark phoned him again and pointed out that his temperature pressure relief valve has a tag with maintenance instructions on it and that if the seller had actually maintained the valve, it would not be leaking now. The seller stated that it had been fine without any maintenance for over 15 years (there's a clue!) and that he fully expected Mark to replace the water heater. (Not the valve anymore, now it's the whole water heater!)

It was time to call the buyer's agent and explain the situation to her so she could involve the seller's agent to help the seller understand what everyone's roles and responsibilities are. Three days later, we got a return call from the agent asking that we send a copy of the inspection report to her and to the seller.

A quick call to the buyer revealed that he had not provided his realtor with a copy of the report. He didn't trust her not to give it to the seller. It was his feeling that since he wasn't going to buy the house, if the seller wanted a copy of the report, he could buy one. And he's right. It's his report. He can give it to whomever he chooses.

It's been three days now since we last heard from the seller or his realtor. I hope he got that leak fixed. But at least the tank won't explode.