| Budget Bug Man 2005-11-06, 9:21 pm |
| Homesellers, beware. There is a practice going on with termite
inspections that could cost you money that you don't need to spend. We
have repeatedly encountered this situation locally (south central
Kansas), and we are working with the local District Attorney's Consumer
Fraud Division with regard to stopping this practice.
When you sell your home, the prospective buyer will hire a termite
inspector to check the home for evidence of termites (and other wood
destroying insects - we are focusing on termites here) and report that
to them on a report form. The NPMA-33 Wood Destroying Insect Inspection
Report is used in Kansas and many other states. This warning is
specifically for states that use the NPMA-33 form.
The NPMA-33 form is divided into five sections, with each section
covering a certain area of the report. Specifically, the problem lies
in Section II - the section reserved for reporting termite evidence
found in, on, or under a structure. The NPMA-33 guidelines specifically
state that termite evidence found in areas away from the structure -
landscape timbers, fences, etc. - are not to be reported in Section II,
but that it may be listed in Section V.
Listing termite evidence found away from the structure in Section II of
the report is Misrepresentation. Selling a treatment based on that
misrepresentation is Fraud.
A termite inspector is free to sell a PREVENTIVE treatment if he finds
termite evidence away from the structure, but he is not to represent
the structure as infested if it is not.
Additionally, there is currently no local regulation or law that
requires a home to be treated if termite evidence - with NO LIVE
TERMITES - is found, and either (1) you have not had it treated within
the past 5 years or (2) you don't have documentation of a treatment
within the past 5 years. An inspector may RECOMMEND a preventive
treatment, however, he is not to make the representation that a
treatment is required. Again, that would be misrepresentation and could
lead to an act of fraud.
Home sellers, protect yourselves, and read this report carefully.
Contact your local Consumer Fraud division of you feel you have been
defrauded.
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