Standards Letter

July 24, 2008

To: OREIA members and other interested Oregon certified home inspectors
Regarding: OCHI participation in 'pay-to-play' referral programs

As you may be aware, some real estate firms doing business in Oregon have programs where favored vendors or service providers are featured. The customers and clients of these firms are provided published lists or access to the firm's web site where these preferred providers are listed. Some of these programs are fee based. The vendor or service provider appears on the list only if a fee is paid to the real estate company or its affiliates. To remove any confusion as to whether it is legal for OCHIs to participate in such 'pay-to-play' programs, OREIA recently worked with the CCB to revise the Oregon Standards of Behavior OAR 812-008.0201, as summarized below:

"An Oregon certified home inspector shall not.....Directly or indirectly compensate realty agents, or other parties having a financial interest in closing or settlement of real estate transactions, for the referral of inspections or for inclusion on a list of recommended inspectors, preferred providers or similar arrangements."

It is the intent of this change to make it very clear that an Oregon certified home inspector is prohibited from paying for referrals from those who have any involvement in the real estate transactions the inspector is involved with in any way. If you or your firm are participating in any such programs you should be aware that such participation is clearly in violation of the Oregon Standards of Behavior and subject to CCB enforcement actions.

As home inspectors, we all depend on the referrals of our customers, real estate professionals and others to build our businesses. Certainly, we all know the value of a customer who comes to us based on the positive experience of someone they trust. The problem arises when these customers make their decisions on the mistaken belief that the preferred provider is on the list because of trusted performance, not because the firm has paid to be promoted. Customers and clients deserve better consideration. OREIA supports this clarification and supports the CCB's efforts to enforce it.

Walter Loehrke
OREIA President

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