There is a new scam going on in this home inspection industry
- Large corporations are buying up all the small home inspection companies
- They don’t care about making money off inspecting homes, they want the data
Why? This is where it gets borderline criminal
Home inspections are supposed to be confidential, but what they’re doing is buying all the companies to own the data
Then they are going to sell that data to insurance companies and lenders
Now with this new information the insurance company finds out, they're going to start charging you $3,000 (or whatever) extra a year to insure that house
Here’s what I’ve found
Large corporations and private equity firms are aggressively consolidating the home inspection industry primarily by buying inspection software platforms like Spectora, HomeGauge and larger inspection companies
A home inspection report contains highly detailed property specific information like roof age and condition, electrical and plumbing issues, foundation problems, HVAC status, environmental hazards
This is extremely valuable for:
- Insurance companies (risk assessment and underwriting).
- Lenders (property valuation and loan risk).
- Home warranty providers, contractors, and data brokers
Home inspections are supposed to be confidential between the buyer, inspector, and sometimes the real estate parties.
However, many inspection software companies’ terms of service allow data aggregation and sharing
That’s the loophole they found. That’s the scam