how can we deal with those people who sell us pest inspection reports that do not show the fact that there are termite infestations, we have to pay them for a first report which says nothing about the truth [a second report, more expensive of course, may tell the truth, however, we have to waste several hundred dollars to get the second one, waste the money because once we know, we do not want to buy the property] . we need such a report to get a bank loan, right ???
but we are not covered by any means if the property bought is termite infested ???
so, what to do if we can do nothing against those people who sale reports that do not pledge their reponsibility ??John
Hi John
I can relate to your situation, you may have seen my thread https://www.propertyinvesting.com/forum/topic/19113.html
It really comes down to the purchaser, making an judgement on whether or not the risk is set off in the price or not. If not, forfeit your deposit, and the costs of the report/s. [jealous]
Sellers are not obligated to inform of previous termite damage, I am led to believe. [jealous]
Well, I had a case of termite tracks being found that a report didn’t indicate, however no live termites were found (luckily).
However I complained to the agent that had recommended him and suggested they should seriously reconsdier using him. Well, they spoke to him and he refunded my money with an apology. Further i compained to the settlement agent that had told me it was “tough bikkies” and I had to buy the property wheras in actual fact they should ahve recommended I seek legal advice. They also refunded their fee.
So, in short, I was lukcy as there wasn’t termited damage in the house, even though their were tracks underneath it. The damamge was confined to a tree outside.
So in short, the refunded monies paid for a full treatment of the house (just to be on teh safe side).
My advice:
a) Find a good agent and try and use them all the time.
b) See a lawyer about having a termite clause written up that you can use all the time that would suit you and not sue the standard one in the contract.
c) There’s not a lot you can do if the termite inspeciton misses the termites, although I would expect you could take action if there’s a lot of damamge that would obviously have been there (ie: no way it could be new). Could be costly though, but you could always start with talking to your state “Fair Trading” dept.Good Luck
PKthank you everyone for your help,
cheers[cap]John
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