# Are home inspections public property?



## Leah Frances (Jan 13, 2008)

Certain types of state and federal inspections are public. But, in general, these pertain to specific types of inspections (flood damage/seismic/meth lab). Mostly inspections are the work product of the inspector and property of whomever paid for it.

But, it's worth asking around. My agent included a copy of a previous walked-away inspection for us. But truth be told, the inspection was disastrous (that's why the previous buyer walked). We knew what we were getting into, so it didn't really matter.


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## Ironlight (Apr 13, 2011)

The answer is no. They are work-for-hire.

That being said in states that have strong buyer protections in the form of disclosure laws, the findings of an inspection make it much harder for a seller to claim no prior knowledge of discovered issues such as non-functional mechanical systems or a leaking roof.


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## concretemasonry (Oct 10, 2006)

Clem sig -

If it was performed as a pre-purchase inspection, the report is the property of the person (buyer) and what he does with it and who he releases it to in his business.

If it is a pre-sale inspection. it is the propery of the seller (who paid to the preliminary inspection) to prepare and condition the property and it is still his property. They want to know what another inspector may possibly find.

Many realtors love to get copies of all inspections to use them later (as they chose) or to force a seller to reduce the price to future buyers and get a quick sale if the first offer does not fly.

Usually, the sellers hire the toughest and best inspectors they can find, but realtors refer buyers to the easy inspectors that like to see things fly through because the liability is limited.

Dick


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