Judge calls for regulation of home inspectors

A Winnipeg judge is calling on the government to regulate the home inspection industry.

Judge Sidney Schwartz ruled a Winnipeg resident should be compensated after an inspector failed to find significant structural problems with her new home.

Cheryl Guttormson was awarded more than $17,000 in a judgment against a home inspection company called Home Chec.

"I'm absolutely elated. I can't believe the last three years are finally over with," Guttormson says.

The judge said the inspector grossly underestimated the defects of the home's foundation. He also said that the industry has developed into an unregulated and unlicensed profession and the justice minister should look into the matter.

Roy MacGregor, owner of Owl Home Inspections, agrees regulation is needed. "In a regulatory body there would be licensing. If someone didn't fit with the rules and regulations of practising home inspections then they would lose their licence and be subject to some sort of fine or suspension," MacGregor says.

Right now no regulatory body oversees home inspectors in Manitoba. There's also no way to find out what qualifications inspectors have before hiring them.

And that's not likely to change soon, according to Ron Lemieux, minister of Consumer Affairs. "Since Sept. 21, my department has not received any complaints about home inspectors. So it's not an item that was a pressing item. But after this decision I would certainly have my department look into the report," Lemieux says.

The defendant in the case says he doesn't believe he did anything wrong and his insurance company will pick up the cost of the judgement awarded to Guttormson.