Doug Clark

I did an inspection for a couple buying a home from an estate. The only other person with me was the attorney representing the estate. I went into the crawl space through an access hole in the floor of the garage. While I was in the crawl space the lawyer walked into the garage and stepped into the hole and broke his arm in 4 places. His last words to me as he left for the hospital were, "You should have told me that was there." I do not have professional insurance, so the attorney (who hired an attorney) contacted me for my homeowners insurance. I could write a hundred pages describing the various facets of the case, and why I am not liable, but you'll have to trust me on that. My homeowners insurance agreed that I was not liable and denied the claim. The attorney then filed a lawsuit against me. When I talked to my insurance company lawyer he informed me that insurance companies settle 95 to 90% of cases out of court because it's too scary for them to put the matter in front of a jury. In other words, they'd rather pay something on 95 out of a hundred cases heard by a mediator because a jury with a wild hair is too frightening for them to deal with. My insurance company is a standard bearer because they settle, on average, in only 90 to 95% of cases. In other words, if somebody files a lawsuit there is a 90 to 95% chance they will make money! I thought I had a company in my corner who would fight for me (and for themselves) -- that's what my agent and broker and claims adjuster and everybody else I talked to led me to believe. But when it came down to it, the attorney was openly planning to settle from the moment the paper hit his desk. The only question is how much they're going to pay. If something happens, you will get sued, and it doesn't matter if you're right or wrong, the insurance company will settle and pay out money. I have good insurance so I won't pay a dime in legal representation or a settlement. But my rates will go up and I will pay through the nose in the future. HERE'S WHAT I REALLY WANT TO SAY: Every attorney I talked to said the same thing: If I was incorporated they could sue me for $10 million and the only thing they could legally take are the assets of my business -- a laptop, a ladder, a camera, a flashlight, a pair of gloves....you get the picture. SO LEARN FROM MY MISTAKE AND GET INCORPORATED!!!

I did an inspection for a a father and daughter in Tacoma. The father is an immigrant and speaks little English, so I dealt with the daughter. After the inspection was complete they had trouble with financing and the deal died. In the meantime I had deposited the check from the daughter and it was returned NSF. I spoke with the daughter who told me her father was waiting for a return of some escrow money, after which there would be money in the account. The escrow money was returned, I re-deposited the check and it was returned as a stop payment. I have a signed pre-inspection agreement. I have their inspection and their check, so it's obvious they owe me the money and that they realize they owe me. Is there any way to make them pay? Can I turn this over to a bill collector? Can I report to a credit agency? I can't put a lien on the house because they don't own one. What are my options. Anybody?

An older home (1910) was upgraded to a 200 amp service. There are two insulated cables to the home, both supported by one bare cable. The bare cable is secured to an insulator on the home, and the end is then attached to an insulated cable which leads to the meter and the service panel and acts as the neutral cable. Is this an issue? Also, while the panel was updated to 200 amps, the meter box appears to be the appropriate size for 125 or 150 amps. When the panel is updated, does the meter have to be updated as well?

Question: Can plus-90 gas furnace exhaust ducts, gas water heater exhaust and yellow flex gas line run through the same chimney flue? Situation: The home has two furnaces. The main in the basement and an auxiliary in the attic. The main furnace (gas plus-90) and water heater (gas) are in the basement situated near the chimney. The water heater is vented into the flue as normal. The exhaust ducts for the plus-90 are typical pvc. They are routed into the flue and up the chimney and are visible protruding from the top of the chimney. The gas service is yellow flex pipe. It runs to the main (basement) furnace, then into the flue up to the attic level where the line exits the flue to supply the upper furnace. All entrance holes into the flue appear to be sealed adequately. I've talked to three licensed furnace installers. One said everything is OK. The second said he'd leave everything in the flue, but he'd install a metal flue pipe for the water heater exhaust through the chimney flue. The third said under no circumstances should the supply be run with the exhaust and it absolutely must be removed from the flue. Any help?