"I have talked with an attorney and he thinks that maybe the previous owners collected some insurance money and didn't get the roof fixed. Is there a way to find that out?"

One item as part of a RE contract and disclosures that is becoming more and more important, is the CLUE report (insurance history of a property). Buyers and their attorneys should insist on sellers to provide the report as part of the sellers property disclosure.

Here is a link that might be useful: Choice Trust - CLUE Report

Thank you so much for that website. I did order a clue report and it shows that nothing has ever been paid out on a claim on my property. In the sellers property disclosure they did list that there had been some wind damage to the roof and that it had been fixed. The previous owners of my house thought that they were general contractors and did a lot of work on this house that I have now found to be pretty poor work.

I think that I can only now go after the inspector and maybe I should go ahead and get another roofing company to come out and give me their opinion.

Thanks again!!!!!!

read your contract with the inspector, as most have limitations on what they can be liable for, and it usually is the limited to your cost of the inspection..Also, it probably notes that the inspector will not climb on a roof,and his assessment of roof would be done by binoculars..And if you signed this,you'll be out of luck...

I would not even bother reading the inspection contract. Give it to your attorney and have them read it. Do this even if the contract has exculpatory clauses absolving the inspector of liability for faulty workmanship. Your lawyer will know if those clauses are valid or not.

If you do decide to pursue a claim, your attorney will probably recommend that you go after the former homeowners, sellers agent, your agent and the inspector.

I hope everything works out ok for you.

First and foremost, from your description, it appears as if the home inspector had the roofer inspect the roof at the time of the home inspection. If so, that appears to be a violation of the Tennessee law that governs the practice of home inspection, as only a licensed home inspector can perform the home inspection. That said, this may negate any contract disclaimer, as he violated state law.

NowÂ.on to state law. In accordance with the law in your state (as is the case in most stated, if not all) the HI is not required to go on the roof. However, he/she IS required to describe the method of roof inspection in the report. What does your report state about how the roof was inspected? This should be interesting to learn what the HI put in the reportÂespecially since it seems like the roofer did the inspection. Did he admit that? If notÂwhen did you learn that the HI you hired was not the person who inspected the roof? If you did not find out until recently, that is deceptive practice on the part of the HIÂmore trouble for the HI with the licensing board.

How does your insurance company know the same occurred after you bought the house? Did they base it on the HI report? If so, more trouble Âas the report is not for use by the insurer.

Last but not least, if the HIÂs roofer does not think you will have more leaksÂhow does he explain the one you already experienced?

HIÂs are required to carry E&O insurance in your state; the amount is not specifiedÂhowever, if he violated the law, the insurer may not cover the claim.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tennessee Home Inspection SOP/Rules

I have decided, in my limited experience, that inspectors are not that great. That's a generalization - yes - some are excellent, I'm sure - I've just had bad luck. Our current one a couple of weeks ago was with a big national company and honestly I knew more than he did. He left things out of his report that we had discussed & then griped about having to revise his report because he had "already filed it with his boss". Too bad.

I learned years ago on my first home NEVER to go with one recommended by the realtor. If they stop too many sales, they get no referrals. I've thought about becoming one when I retire. My motto will be "I work for BUYERS only - Sellers FEAR me" or something to that effect. I'd of hired me if I saw that ad.

Excuse the rant - back to the original post. I'd get a third opinion from another roofer. I wouldn't tell them what either of the other people said.

Having been through a lawsuit recently (first & only time I intend to go through THAT) I can tell you that if you can avoid it, you might be better off. Unless you have lots of money & just want to teach someone a lesson you might come out ahead by just fixing it yourself. Even if you win a lawsuit, you can't always force them to pay & you get stuck with the repairs anyway.

That said, I feel the sellers should have disclosed the prior damage to the roof so that you could have had a chance to evaluate it and tell your inspector to inspect the repairs. If that's the case, and it becomes a non-disclosure issue, maybe a letter from an attorney would be enough to get the sellers to remedy the situation.

Good luck.

"I have decided, in my limited experience, that inspectors are not that great."
That's for sure.
The last inspection report I received was so well worded and full of disclaimers that it was clear that they wouldn't be responsible for anything. It was essentially "Everything apears to be working at 9AM on such and such a date, but if it doesn't work at 11AM too bad so sad".

I knew that going in, but you hear so much "get an inspection, get an inspection" that you are afraid not to. But then they're useless, so it's a lose/lose situation IMO.

We had to get two "valley" parts of our roof re-shingled shortly after moving into our current house. Our inspector did get on the roof and found a leak in one of the valleys before we closed on the house. (He did tell us that normally he doesn't get on the roof as part of his inspections but he did in this case after finding a small puddle of water on the laundry room floor, right under the valley part of the roof.) We asked the sellers to fix it. Well, apparently all they did was have their roofer put some putty in the area of the leak. Shortly after we moved into the house, we had a very windy rainstorm one night and the second valley leaked, dripping water into our stairway. We called a guy who had once roofed a house for my DH, and he said the putty the other roofer put in was merely a quick, cheap fix. DH's roofer installed new flashing and shingles in both valleys. It cost us $1200, and we haven't had any leaks since. We did not turn it into insurance as our deductible is high. In retrospect, we wish we'd had our inspector re-inspect the roof after the sellers' roofer had applied the putty to make sure this was the right fix (though he may not have known since he's not a professional roofer). We just assumed the sellers had taken care of the problem. BTW, they did disclose that they'd replaced the roof a couple years ago after it leaked. We didn't think we had any legal recourse since we'd already closed on the house. We just chalked it up to an expensive lesson.

In your case, I'd get another roofer's opinion. Maybe ask around at work for a referral. You might have some legal recourse, but it sounds iffy to me considering you signed off on the inspection and closed on the house. Plus, lawyers aren't cheap and getting any money from the sellers might take a long time. I doubt you will be able to hold your inspector liable as all the inspectors I've worked with had stated they don't expect roofs as a rule. Check your inspection report for any such clauses.

Good luck!

Thank you so much everyone for responding. I have really learned a lot after buying this house. When I buy my next house (which will be a long time from now), I will know better and I feel sorry for the sellers and the inspector.

I did not sign off on the inspection. My inspection from the inspector shows that he says the roof is in good condition and should have a life of 6 to 8 years. He did not have a roofer look at the roof on the day of the inspection. He asked me if his roofer could look at my roof since we are now having problems. He did tell me that when he inspected my house he looked at the roof with binoculars. Of course, I told him that if I had known that then I would have hired a roofer to come and look at the roof before I closed.

The sellers did disclose that they had had wind damage and that the damage had been fixed. The sellers fixed it themselves. They never hired anyone.

When the leak happened I had a roofer come out and he did a temporary fix of putting silicon in spots. The inspectors roofer said that he would have taken up the nails around the flashing and replaced the nails. He said that probably I had a leak at the nails. He could tell that the roofer I hired had put some silicon around the nails. He said that probably fixed the leak.

Anyway, I am going to get a third roofer to come and take a look.

Have a happy thanksgiving everybody, thanks again!!!!

Fix your roof and move on, IMHO.
The inspector did shoddy work. My inspectors (both home sales) have always gone on the roof, in the attic, in every possible crevice that was accessible. Even so, a couple of things turned up afterwards.

When you look at roof replacement cost vs. attorney fees, which is the simplest, less stressful route?

Although some HI's DO walk on roofs, most don't....as, first and foremost, it can prove to be dangerous, in terms of falling through if the under sheathing is rotted through in any place.

Second, walking on the roof can cause additional damage to roofing material...especially if it is not brand new. When roofers walk, they have the means to repair any damage that they may cause...HI's don't.

Also, some roofs can't be walked upon at all due to pitch and/or type without special equipment.

All of the above is why most if not all HI regulations do not require roofs to be walked upon.

And...if an HI does walk on a roof, that does not necessarily mean he will noticeÂÂor report...anything more than he or she would otherwise...as more often than not, the lack of info in an HI report is due to haste, and/or not wanting to complicate the REA's deal...rather than lack of expertise.

Last but not least, Tennessee does not specify binocular magnification...as does NJ. With proper magnification, one can see any visual defects as well as they can be seen by walking upon the roof. If there is an area that is not visible for some reason, this is supposed to be identified in the report.

The methods used to inspect the roof should be set forth in the contract. The contract should be read BEFORE hiring the HI, in order that questions can be asked and answered. If the HI does not walk the roof, one then has the option of finding one who does...although that is more easily said then done, for the above mentioned reasons.

Failing that, upon reading the report, it should have stated that the roof inspection was performed using binoculars. At that point the buyer has the option of obtaining another opinion.

In this case, it is not clear as to why a crack was visible...but no evidence of water damage...such as staining, etc....which is why I asked how the insurance company knew the problem was pre-purchase.

Last but not least, I am not sure what the OP means about not "signing off" on the inspection...
...again, more definitive info is needed in order to supply helpful opinions.

And yes...at this point, the roof should be repaired...but, personally I would get a 3rd opinion....

A new roof is relatively inexpensive (depending on the size of the house and type of material used). How old are the house and the roof? Shingle roofs usually last about 20-25 years, so if it's near that age I would just get it replaced by a reputable company. You then will not have to worry about it for the next 20 years.

Sorry I haven't responded back, I have been busy this past week.

The house and roof are 10 years old. You would think that the roof would last longer than 10 years.

I have a brother in law of a friend of mine coming tommorrow to look at the roof for me. He also is going to check and make sure that there isn't any water damage around an upstairs window. He is going to be my third opinion.

I will let everyone know what he says.

Thanks again.

lauraa: "The house and roof are 10 years old. You would think that the roof would last longer than 10 years. "

True...unless there was indeed hail damage...or, unless there is a defect in the shingles. There was a major shingle defect issue involving certain types of Certainteed.....I'm not sure if there is still time to join the class action suit...but may be worth checking in to if you can find out the brand...

Here is a link that might be useful: http://defectiveproducts.lawyersandsettlements.com/case/certainteed.html