Mortgage Field Services and Personal Property
Posted on | November 6, 2007 | No Comments
Things are absolutely fantastic right now. Just enough work to remind us that we do have a home business but not so much work that we are what you would call busy. There’s been plenty of time to relax and also to get a few little projects done.
We have had nothing but commercial inspections for a few days now and small ones at that. We did a used car lot inventory yesterday in a little town about forty miles up north of us. We accepted it mainly to get out of the house for a while.
The huskys are starting their cold weather craziness. Pakak has dug out twice and gone for a stroll. Bentley keeps getting caught under the fence and Casey runs in the house and tattles on them. I’m glad she does so I can go looking for them quickly after the escape.
I am still working on updates and additions to the manual. The release date for a new version is still months in the future but I want to be as ready as I can on the release date. I am still working on the material for interior inspections. Here’s another sub-topic:
Is There Personal Property or Debris in the House?
As an inspector doing an interior inspection, you will not have as much responsibility or liability as the preservation contractor when it comes to personal property and debris. You will however see that most inspection forms ask whether personal property or debris is in the house. In most instances, a short narrative describing the property and its location is required.
What liability? It is rare, but it does happen – who took the diamond ring? You would be amazed how many people that loose their house leave an expensive diamond ring on the kitchen counter! Most of the time, the property preservation contractor has the entire burden of this accusation. There have been times though when all who had access to the property are asked to file a claim with their business insurance carrier!
I encourage you to do a thorough job with your descriptions and describing location. Why? Because other contractors with different responsibilities also have access to the property and if your report does not jive with their report, a free re-inspection to the property is the most likely result.
Most of the mortgage servicing companies can not tell you what your state laws are concerning the difference between personal property and debris. There are different definitions and different laws in each state, so they do have some difficulty doing this. That means it is up to the field inspector to know what the laws are.
One thing you will find in just about all of the companies’ “field operations manuals†is a statement that the field contractor should seek local legal counsel for guidance. I can’t say whether this statement put is put in the manuals as helpful advice or to transfer liability?
Normally, the property preservation crew, or in our business, the “contractorâ€, is the one to be most concerned with personal property and debris. But, your inspection forms will ask about personal property and debris so you need to be able to confidently report what you see.
It is to your benefit to have an understanding of your state and local laws concerning personal property and debris. You should seek local legal counsel for guidance in helping you make this call.
I have a couple of more pages to go before I am through with the subject of interior inspections and I will try to share the information here. We did get in 165 drive-by inspections so looks like I’ll be back at work tomorrow.
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