Mikhail Levine in North York

When buying a house I was referenced to Steve who performed an inspection of the house in October 2009. He was polite and looked professional. In fact he spotted several minor issues with this 50-year old house (humidifier not working, range vent incorrect, insulation insufficient etc.) and took time to discuss the issues with us. So quite for a while I was happy with the inspection and my new house and prepared a long term plan for upgrades that were needed to bring the house to the current standards. It came as a surprise for me when in the Spring of 2010, preparing for window replacement, somebody told me that there was a major problem with the roof. I could not believe it but an engineer’s inspection confirmed the shocking revelation: the roof had a significant sag and needed repairs. He told me that no immediate collapse was probable, but he recommended repairs to be completed within a couple of years and the sooner the better. The engineer got a structural drawings with a solution for me and I received a building permit for it. Overall expense so far is about $1,000. As for the repair work itself, I’ve got quotes from four contractors ranging from about $11,000 to $21,000. This is a major blow for my budget. I contacted Steve by email, expecting him to call me and admit that he had made a major mistake (once in a while everybody can have a bad day) and probably to compensate me at least for the inspection fee. Steve chose to not to talk to me but to secretly visit my house again without any notice (he came in daytime when I was at work and my wife was also supposed to be at work but accidentally was sick at home and that’s why I know about this visit). After this visit he sent me email admitting that “roof has a minor sag” but claiming that he “performed a proper inspection” in October 2009. The thing is that he never even mentioned the sag before (in the inspection form there was a special check box for sagging roof that was never checked) and this sag is not minor, at least for the engineer and the contractors gasping “Wow” when they first saw it. So for me it looks like it was not a mistake on Steve’s side, this is apparently the proof of his INCOMPETENCE . He is able to find small things but he does not have enough knowledge to understand big issues. Researching Internet (Sep 22, 2010), I’ve found Steve’s public profile on LinkedIn where he implies to be a Member of Ontario Association of Home Inspectors (OAHI) and a Member of the Brampton Real Estate Board (BREB). I made a request to OAHI and they responded that Steve was NOT a member of OAHI. Also I was not able to find his name in the list of BREB members on the website of the BREB. I assume that he might have held these positions in the past, but in my opinion, it’s NOT APPROPRIATE to lead the community and potential clients believe that the positions (that normally associated with high professional level) are current. I would not have used his services if I knew this back in October 2009.