President's Letter

Greetings Fellow Home Inspectors,

I wish you a joyous and productive New Year! My name is David Clark, and I have assumed the position of President of the New York State Association of Home Inspectors (NYSAHI). I am a NYS licensed home inspector and have owned a home inspection business since 1993.

It is hard to believe that 6 years have passed since our state began licensing home inspectors. NYSAHI has been front and center regarding the best interests of home inspectors before, during and after licensing. We have been the voice of the home inspection profession in New York State for more than 12 years. The NYSAHI Board of Directors are representatives from home inspector chapters throughout New York State. The Board is made up from representatives from the Long Island ASHI, Metro ASHI, Metropolitan Association of Home Inspectors, Hudson Valley ASHI, Southern Tier Association of Home Inspectors, Hudson Valley ASHI, Capitol Region ASHI, Greater Rochester ASHI, and Western New York ASHI. We represent all home inspectors throughout the state.

Our mission is to ensure that the licensing law in this state is the benchmark for the home inspection profession. Unfortunately, this is currently not the case. Home inspection standards need to rise to meet the level of our profession. I truly believe that the service we provide consumers of this state are the most important during a real estate transaction. Some of the initiatives we are working on are; raising the level of initial home inspector training, proposing the State use the National Home Inspector Exam (NHIE), or ensure the current exam is revised to reflect the knowledge that a home inspector should have. We are also working on educating the public in general about what a quality home inspection encompasses and pointed information specifically pertaining to home inspections, that a potential home purchaser would be required to read and sign prior to purchasing a home. We are also working on making it easier to secure continuing education requirements without lessening the effectiveness of the training.

I am sure you can see the value of our organization' s representation of home inspectors. No one in the organization receives a paycheck. Our biggest expense is our lobbyist. Some of the bills that have been introduced are:

Bill A667 "Private Well Testing" would basically allow only laboratories to sample and test well water. Home inspectors wold not be able to take water samples to the lab.

Bill 671 "Well Water Education Act" will require home inspectors who sample well water to educate the parties involved by handing out educational materials on contaminates.

Bill S2198 "Private Well Testing" is basically the Senate version of A667 establishes a demonstration program for private well testing requirements for sale of real property in certain counties.

Bills have been introduced that void the exculpatory clause that home inspectors, and many other businesses have in their contracts. This would remove the limit of liability language in our contracts for home inspection. The limit of liability would no longer be the home inspection fee. This could potentially open us up to frivilous law suits.

We, along with our lobbyist have and will continue to actively oppose any legislation that would be detrimental to our profession. We encourage you to visit our website at: www.nysahi.com. There, you can get updates from our lobbyist, and from all around the state. You can also sign up for our free newsletter that will be emailed to you monthly.

I would like to personally invite you to become a member of the New York State Association of Home Inspectors. Yearly membership is only $75.00. You can easily join right from our website securely with PayPal or by check. It is important that your voice is also heard. Remember, you do not have to be a member of a local home inspector chapter or affiliated with a national home inspector organization, we represent all home inspectors, and we would be honored if you joined with us and have your voice heard. I encourage you to contact me directly if you have any questions.

There is much work to be done for our profession and we need your membership and input. I look forward to representing you as we, along with our lobbyist, petition the state with the important issues that we must address before someone else does. Please join me in taking charge of our profession now.

Sincerely,

David A. Clark
President NYSAHI

info@nysahi.com