The start of the new year is always a good time to review the year just past. This year it would also be a good time to review the Home Inspection Professional Licensing Law and how it impacts on your business. We will be running a series of articles that highlight some of the significant sections of the law in the coming months. In this issue we explore the resources that are available to inspectors on the Department of State website.

I hope that the New Year finds everyone safe and healthy. And as always please drop me a line if you hear of anything new that affects our profession.

Gregg Harwood, NYSAHI President 2006-07

The Department of State website contains much information that home inspectors can use in operating their businesses. However, both home inspectors and consumers find the site difficult to navigate.

NYSAHI has helped to demystify this resource by providing quick links to some of the most useful information on our website. Here is a list of the DOS links you will find when you click the "Department of State" button on NYSAHI.com.

Home Inspection General Information. On this page you can find: License Applications, Exam Schedules, The Home Inspector Professional License Law, List of schools that are qualified to provide inspector education, Minutes of Home Inspector Council Meetings, Applications to become a qualified school, instructor, etc.

The DOS Home Inspection FAQ page.

The DOS Licensing page.

Page to verify an inspector's license status.

Form to register a complaint against a home inspector, or any other profession licensed by the DOS.

List of Home Inspector Advisory Council members.

Calendar of DOS events, including upcoming Home Inspector Council Meetings.

State Register where proposed regulations are posted for public comment prior to adoption.

If you find other useful information on the DOS site please send the link to us so we can share the info.

With the end of 2006 comes the beginning of a new era at the State Capitol. Governor-elect and former State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer takes office on January 1. Spitzer, a Democrat, succeeds Republican George Pataki, who occupied the Governor’s mansion for the past twelve years.

As the Pataki administration, and the bureaucratic malaise that has characterized the past several years of his rule, come to a close many around the capitol are hopeful that Governor Spitzer will energize state government.

After successfully passing the Home Inspector Licensing Law in 2005, NYSAHI spent most of 2006 working with the Department of State to implement the regulations required to make the new law work – and with the Legislature to appoint the members of the State Home Inspection Council. Two NYSAHI members sit on the six member council and have played an important role in advising the department on licensing. Unfortunately, the State Assembly has not made all their appointments but we are hopeful that the process will be completed in early 2007.

My role as your lobbyist will be shifting slightly during the coming year. Instead of advocating for the enactment of the licensing law we will have to monitor the Legislature and Executive closely to ensure that they do not try and weaken the law we fought so hard to pass. We will also continue to work with the Department of State and the new appointees – who will have to be brought up to speed on your profession.

Governor-elect Spitzer promised that on January 1 everything changes --- our job is to make sure that it changes for the better. Happy New Year to all the members of NYSAHI. Jim McCulley, McCulley and Associates

Here is the deal: If you believe that NYSAHI has provided you and your business with at least $75 worth of information and representation in Albany recently, we ask you to send in a membership.

It is imperative for our profession to have a voice in Albany. Three quarters of our annual budget of $16,000.00 goes directly to pay your lobbyist. Yearly membership in NYSAHI is only $75.

Your membership will make a difference.