Lawmakers Consider Whether Home Inspectors Should Be Registered
DENVER (CBS4) - Colorado lawmakers will discuss this week whether home inspectors should have to be registered.
Right now there are no state requirements for home inspectors and some say that leaves homeowners vulnerable. Count Coloradans Molly Plutt and Kali Ferguson in that bunch.
Last year Plutt told CBS4 she hired an inspector to avoid surprises, but after she moved in she learned her roof the inspector said was sound actually wasn't. She had to replace it at a cost of $11,000.
"He said the roof was fine," she said. "It was demoralizing to be taken advantage of like that."
Ferguson paid to have her home inspected twice. The first inspection cost $300 and the inspector missed a gas leak.
"I would have been living in a house with a gas leak," she said.
CBS4 found last year that an arrest affidavitt alleges that in 2014 in Arapahoe County a man representing himself as a home inspector sexually assaulted a minor in a home. That same year, the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies recommended home inspectors in the state be licensed after passing an exam and criminal background check.
"I think this is a consumer protection," said state Sen. Nancy Todd, a Democrat from Aurora.
Todd is following through with a bill that would would require home inspectors register with the state, pass a background check and have liability insurance and a surety bond.
"What we want to do is make sure that whoever it is that's coming in is thorough and that we know who they are," Todd said.
Republicans in the Colorado Senate told CBS4 they are usually skeptical of more government regulation, but that they are open to discussing this issue. A Republican-controlled committee will hear the bill Tuesday.
