David Johnson’s Blog » Blog Archive » About Home Inspections
Note that a home inspector is not qualified to inspect a wood-burning appliance such as a fireplace or wood stove unless they are WETT (Wood Energy Technology Training) certified. You will benefit most from your inspection if you can be …  read more…

Real Estate Blog - "Head-plant" planters!
Just quack on me to subscribe · Raven DeCroe DeCroe, is my “etherial” home inspector assistant and occasionally flies into my blog and other people’s blogs to offer assistance. To find out more about her beginnings just click on Raven. …  read more…

Browntree Home Inspections: Profile pics on social media
Browntree Home Inspections. Residential Home Inspection company in Atlanta Georgia. www.browntree.net … Brodie Brown: Marietta, GA: Atlanta Georgia Home Inspector 678-777-0707 brodie@browntree.net. View my complete profile …  read more…

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Bank Short Sale � a Great Way to Purchase Investment Property
A Bank short sale is a great way for investors to buy property at a fraction of the market price; however there are several steps that should be followed in order to guarantee a successful and profita…  read more…

Your Investment in Rental Property - How to Pick a Fat Cash Cow
Picking the right investment in rental property is very crucial but it can be quite tricky if you are a new investor. Find out what separates a profitable cow cash and money sucking monster today.

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Home Inspections In Todays Market
Home Inspections In Todays Market

When I first started my own home inspection business, most of my inspections were occupied homes being sold by Mr. And Mrs. Jones. Today most of the homes I insp…  read more…

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Open Question: Just got my offer accepted for my first house. Im using an FHA 203k loan… questions (Big read)?
Ok, I got pre-qualified for an FHA 203k loan. The house I put my offer in is for 74k, its a 1900’s two family mill style house. It needs a good amount of work, my gf’s dad is a very skilled home renovator, its what he does as a job, Im not sure what he has for licenses, but in his career he has been: a realtor, a home inspector, a licensed electrician, a licensed plumber, and a few other things. He now just works with another guy flipping houses. Hes going to be doing all of our work for us. He estimated the house needs about 35k to make it beautiful and functional. If he isnt licensed, can he still submit that estimate to FHA, or are they going to send down their own people to take estimates, etc… I dont really know too much of what needs to be done next. Any information on how FHA 203k works would be totally appreciated.

Thanks

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Open Question: If my home inspector ok’s everything and my roof leaks, is he responsible for damages?
I had a friend of the family do an “unofficial” home inspection (no pay or anything, just a pat on the back and a beer).

My worry is that if there is something wrong with the house, I won’t want to turn around and have to collect from him, god forbid if anything was major.

I don’t want to use a home inspector, but the only reason I would was that if the licensed inspector made an error, he would be liable for anything he missed, correct?

For example, if my roof leaks, and he didn’t catch that, he would be liable for damages, correct? Isn’t that the point of getting a home inspector?

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Open Question: What do you think? Will you vote? Can it be stopped?
This is going to be long and detailed (can’t go wrong with lots of details). It’s a new bill being passed (also in Indiana and Oklahoma).

Illinois

House Bill 198 targets even the smallest hobby kennels with a legal designation as a commercial kennel. Anyone who sells a single puppy would be classified as a “puppy mill,” if they own more than three sexually intact female dogs.

In addition, no one would be able to own or possess more than 20 sexually intact dogs, if they also have three intact females and sell at least one puppy. This would destroy some of the best breeding programs in Illinois, because serious dog fanciers routinely keep older and retired dogs for their entire lives, keep several puppies for evaluation, and have several dogs actively engaged in competition. This provision also would effectively prohibit most professional handlers and trainers from raising even a single litter of puppies.

HB 198 was scheduled for a hearing last week before the House Business/Occupational License Committee. The committee met as scheduled and the bill remained on the agenda. However, it wasn’t discussed and several supporters of dog owners made a long drive to Springfield, IL, for nothing.

The committee has again scheduled this legislation for a hearing, on Thursday February 19, 2009, at 2 p.m., in Room C-1 Stratton Building at the Capitol in Springfield.

The American Sporting Dog Alliance is strongly urging Illinois dog owners to attend this hearing and show your opposition to HB 198. Please also consider asking to formally testify about this legislation by contact the Chairperson, Rep. Robert Rita, at (217) 558-1000.

Last week, only about 30 people attended the hearing. Quite frankly, this was not a strong showing by Illinois dog owners, and the low number of people in attendance delivers the wrong message to the representatives. Please attend this week’s hearing, if at all possible.

Please also sign the American Sporting Dog Alliance petition in opposition to this legislation. In it’s first week, 1,670 Illinois residents have signed, as have 874 residents of other states who visit Illinois with dogs, for a total of 2,544 voices in opposition. Please add your name to this petition.

For residents, sign the petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/asda1/petition.html . Nonresidents, please sign at http://www.petitiononline.com/asda2/petition.html. These petitions will be hand-delivered to the committee.

Prompt and aggressive action is required from all Illinois dog owners. If you do not act, there is a strong potential for irreparable damage to be done to everyone who owns a dog in Illinois, and to the dogs themselves.

HB 198 says that:

Anyone who owns more than three intact females and sells puppies would be classified as a commercial breeding kennel, subject to high fees for licensure, rigorous inspections, the forfeiture of several constitutional protections, mandatory fingerprinting and criminal background checks by the state police and Federal Bureau of Investigation, forfeiture of the right to redress in a court of law, heavy loads of paperwork, unworkable standards of care, and the forcible invasion of personal and financial records.

In addition, no one would be permitted to keep or own more than 20 dogs that are not spayed or neutered. No dog could be bred unless it is examined by a veterinarian. Also, people would not be able to raise a litter of puppies inside their home if other adult dogs are present. It would be illegal to keep more than three dogs together, which would apply to the number of dogs kept inside a home, ban the common practice of kenneling a pack of hounds together and eliminate large fenced lots to allow young dogs to get plenty of exercise.

There also is an ambiguous provision that requires the state to pass judgment on the “qualifications” of a kennel license applicant before issuing a license. This would be an entirely subjective judgment by the kennel inspector, as the legislation does not define adequate qualifications.

Only veterinarians could euthanize a dog, which causes terrible suffering and agony if a veterinarian cannot be located quickly.

Dog owners also could face heavy fines and loss of licenses for irrelevant violations, such as surface rust on wires, a few cobwebs, a knocked over water bowl or chipped paint. Temperature requirements would make it impossible for people to acclimate hunting, herding and performance dogs to weather conditions, thus creating danger for the dogs. Fines and civil penalties would multiply exponentially, and even minor offenses would have the potential to destroy a dog owner financially and cause the loss of her or his home and lifetime savings.

The legislation also contains numerous powers to seize dogs, or to require their owners to
Nikko: You obviously didn’t even read it. Shelters and rescues will be shut down too, since you’re a puppy mill if you sell even ONE puppy.
KZ: many of the Good breeders already have rules to meet, including inspections by the USDA and other organizations. They are already obeying the law. They will keep trying to, but with ridiculous prices, they can’t. The puppy mills will continue ignoring the laws, so this will do nothing but cause badly bred dogs to be readily available, and for them to be sold on the black market.
I love how many people don’t even seem to have read this at all, and just blindly support it without realizing its true implications.

Divapom: Where did you find that out about the Oklahome one?

ALso, the people have been successful fighting these in the past, but this time they are going after many places at once to try and get the law passed. I love how on the actual IL bill they talk about dogs being spaded. This worries me for the future of the nation.
There is now a non-resident petition too! Please sign! If people help now, then when it happens in your state you won’t be all alone!

http://www.petitiononline.com/asda2/petition-sign.html
Isn’t it completely against the constitutional rights to do this? Wouldn’t it require ammendments first? How can they tell people in Oklahoma where they can and can’t get dogs from?

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