Re: pay for my roof???????????????

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You definition of "fair" is completely meaningless. To say
that in item "will need maintenance or replacing in the
future" does not communicate any useful information. Of
course, everything needs to be maintained or replaced at
some point in time. The homeowner needs to know if that
point in time is "tomorrow" or "10 years from now." If you
were hired to provide useful information and failed to
provide useful information, I would submit that you breached
your contract with your client. The damages resulting from
your breach are exactly as you described---the homeowner had
to replace the roof shortly after purchase.

A completely different argument exists if your inspection
was inadequate or just plain wrong. You didn't say why the
roof was replaced so soon. If he replaced it for cosmetic
or preventative reasons, they you may be ok. But if the
roof leaked like a sieve, you blew it and should owe him for
your mistakes.

The fact that you have posted this question leads me to
believe that you are not a certified member of any
association of home inspectors. They all have standard,
sample, or recommended forms that contain exculpatory
clauses or limits on their liability.

Our brethren in Michigan will be glad to accept your fees to
defend this claim.

On 2/01/05, detroit home inspector wrote:
> I am a home inspector. I inspected a house last august
> and rated the roof as "fair" I define fair in my report
> as: "will need maintenance or replacing in the future"
> i took some pictures of some problem areas, inspected the
> attic and made note of water marks on the underside of the
> roof. so the guy i did the inspection for bought the
> house anyway without re-negotiating the price with the
> seller.
>
> the guy/buyer/ now wants me to pay him 2500 dollars for
> the roof. the actual price of the roof was 5000 but the
> guy only paid the roofer 2500 and refused to pay the rest
> because the new roof did not pass city inspection. he
> refused to let the roofer back on the house to do the
> necessary repairs. so, basically he wants me to pay the
> entire cost of his new roof.
>
> should i just tell him to sue me.