The Professional Nature of Home Inspections
The Professional Nature of Home InspectionsHome inspection is a profession, not a service. It requires training, experience, and skill to be a professional inspector. While not every state requires licensing, all home inspections are a professional service performed using a recognizable standard of practice. In some states the standard is a statute or regulation carrying the force of law. In others, it is derived from the inspection agreement or using what would be the most common standards employed by inspectors in that area.
The Importance of Expert Testimony in Professional Liability Claims
Most claims against professionals require support in the form of an opinion by an expert in that field that the professional did not perform according to the accepted standard of practice for that profession. The Supreme Court of Alabama recently dealt with this issue relating to cases against home inspectors and added an extra layer of insulation against “questionable” cases brought by plaintiffs seeking damages from an allegedly deficient inspection.
The LeBlanc v. Residence Dr. Home Insp., LLC Case: Alabama Supreme Court Ruling
In LeBlanc v. Residence Dr. Home Insp., LLC, No. SC-2023-0843, 2024 Ala. LEXIS 192 (Nov. 15, 2024), the Supreme Court of Alabama was asked to consider whether plaintiffs suing a professional home inspector must produce expert testimony from another professional home inspector identifying provable failures to adhere to the Alabama Standards and Procedures for Home Inspectors.
The plaintiffs in LeBlanc sued their home inspector, alleging the inspector failed to adhere to the Alabama Standards and Procedures for Home Inspectors by not reporting evidence of rotted and decaying wood floor joists. The plaintiffs asserted the specific provisions of those Standards they alleged were not met by the inspector. They did not produce expert opinions from another professional home inspector that the defendant inspector did not adhere to the Standards. The defendant moved for dismissal due to the lack of expert opinion support for the claim. Plaintiffs argued that merely reciting the standards they alleged that the inspector violated was enough to allow their case to proceed to trial. The trial court dismissed the case due to the lack of supporting expert testimony. The plaintiffs filed their appeal to the Supreme Court of Alabama.
Alabama Supreme Court’s Justification and Decision
The Court recognized that in nearly all cases against recognized professionals, Alabama law requires support from another professional in the field with expertise and who can provide a credible opinion that the applicable standard of care was not met. Recognizing that inspectors in Alabama are entitled to the same level of deference as any other, the Court determined that “home inspectors, like real-estate appraisers, are also required to be licensed, engage in a profession requiring specialized knowledge, and their profession is regulated by the State; thus, they qualify as professionals.” Since the plaintiffs did not support their case with expert testimony, the dismissal entered by the trial court was allowed to stand, and the case was dismissed.
The Necessity of Expert Opinions in Home Inspector Litigation
Except in the rarest of cases, you cannot sue a medical doctor without proof that the doctor deviated from the standard. It would be entirely logical to assume that to successfully litigate a claim against a professional home inspector, one needs to provide an opinion from another professional home inspector explaining the standards of practice and providing an opinion that the inspector did not meet the standard. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Some trial judges allow cases to proceed, and costs to explode, despite the lack of credible opinions from actual experts in home inspection that an inspector failed to adhere to the applicable standards.
Protecting Home Inspectors from Unsupported Claims
I receive and review claims against home inspectors from all over the country. I will never cease to be amazed by the number of roofers, HVAC technicians, general contractors and others who provide opinions to their clients regarding what their home inspector “should have done” or “should have included in the report.” When a claim becomes a case, we rely on the courts to require plaintiffs to prove their claims with the required proof, including admissible evidence that an inspector failed to adhere to the applicable standard of practice. This decision will immediately help us protect our insureds in Alabama from unsupported allegations and frivolous claims. The attorneys we hire to represent our insureds in Alabama now have another tool to minimize the chances of an unsupported case making its way into the court system.
