Inspector-Complaints-2023

This website provides complaints about TWO Monterey County Property Inspectors:

Alex Carriaga, Termite Inspector -- Wheeler Termite Company -- (FR43400)
Robert Vierra, Home Inspector -- RLV Home Inspections//DBA Win Home Inspection Monterey (unlicensed industry)
Brannon Vierra, Home Inspector - LV Home Inspections//DBA Win Home Inspection Monterey (unlicensed industry)

This Complaint details errors and omissions in "pre-sale" inspection reports completed for a Seller's Agent as part of an Organized Scheme to ready a home for sale at a price well above its market value.

On the eve of March 26, 2021, we received Inspection Reports done by these two inspectors. The following day we wrote a contract to purchase with consideration given to the information in the Reports. We had no ability to for-see or give consideration to the omissions. Several days later we took Title to the Property, at time of Contract Ratification, per clause 13B.

That is NOT an intuitive concept, but relevant, factual, and proper when understood properly. It also means the "fraudulent reports" and the right to pursue the "fraudulent acts" related to creating them transferred to us at that time too, with no need to pursue the Seller.

It was not the Seller's job to QC the reports of Professionals, although he might be found "negligent" if we went that route, or even involved in a Conspiracy, but chasing "doers" gets to the root of Fraud. We then closed Escrow 6 weeks later.

It's been a strange form of Hell since then, but we are working hard to change things for the better.

Alex Carriaga
Pest Inspector

Robert Vierra
Home Inspector

Brannon Vierra
Home Inspector

I've made a "Big Deal" out of this Inspector situation for several BIG and IMPORTANT reasons. The Money we've temporarily lost and that lost by Community Members before us is one reason. Alerting Influential Community Leaders of Gross Commercial Malfeasance across a Broad Network of "out of control" professionals is another...

The identical omissions made by BOTH inspectors is beyond all odds for sincere work. Seldom will you be able to witness, with confidence, a level of malfeasance this large in the inspection business. The inspectors were "over coordinated", and that's why their work "stood out".
The nature in which the inspection omissions align with Disclosure Omissions by the Seller's Agent and Seller makes it easy to see an entire story line of malfeasance. Seldom is it so clear.
The Level to which "Professional Inspectors" and "Realtors" are blindly trusted by some people needed a strong push back. This experience presented the opportunity to do that.
The Level to which "Professional Inspectors" actually serve Real Estate Brokers and their Agents while "pretending" to have the best interest of Consumers in mind needed to be exposed. This experience presented the opportunity to do that.
Both inspectors were recommended resources from the Keller Williams Coastal Estates Office in Carmel, California. There are over 50 agents in that office who might have been recommending these inspectors as "trusted resources" to sellers wishing to obfuscate defects and unwitting buyers for Decades. That's a scary thought, and that is just one of many Realty Offices in the area that may have been referring business to these inspectors.
The "Time in the Saddle" both of these inspectors and inspection companies had in the Monterey Bay Community as "trusted resources" is decades.
The "financial damage" insincere inspectors can wreak on unsuspecting buyers is more than most can currently imagine. How does the potential for over $500,000,000 for just these two inspectors sound?

Most people might initially think "contractors" have a corner on hiding defects and ethical compromise.

Few realize it's the inspectors in a real estate transaction who can cause thousands or tens of thousands of dollars in damage with the flick of a pen. They can be as bad or even worse than Bankers.

Some of the most referred inspectors flick their pens the wrong way on a daily basis to keep their Referral Network of Real Estate Agents happy. Most not in the business have no clue the level of Commitment full time inspectors have to have with the Real Estate Agents if they want strong, long term Referral Partners. If an inspector blows even 1 deal by being honest about a major defect, some agents will never refer them business again, just for being honest. The most financially successful inspectors figure that out at young age, and they bend the wrong way daily or weekly to build and maintain their business.

If I told you the cumulative cost to Buyers from a single insincere inspector could reach $500 MILLION dollars in a 25 year career, could you comprehend that math?

Alex has been a licensed person with the California Structural Pest Control Board since 2008. If he did two inspections per working day since 2008, he would have done 6000 inspections in 15 years. (approximately 200 working days per year). That would make for "good living" . More inspections per day, which is easily doable with a good referral network, would make for a better living. If he omitted $5,000 in damages for each of 6,000 reports, to help smooth out transactions for the Brokers while minimizing damage distractions to buyers, he would have omitted $30 MILLION in damages in a 15 year career. In our scenario, none of $20,000 in defects was conveyed properly with the report he completed.

Robert's Marketing Material indicates he's done over 11,000 inspections in Monterey County since the 1990s. Roberts report was far more egregious than Alex's. By our estimates, Robert omitted in excess of $50,000 in defects he should have called out with ease. If he did that on every report, that would be $550 MILLION in oversight in 25 years. And now his son is learning the ropes ?

Someone needs to stop them. They give GROSS a new meaning.

When the entirety of the Fraud engaged in by the Seller's Agent, the Seller, two Licensed Contractors, and these two Inspectors is viewed in totality, it involves $150,000 to 250,000 in defect omissions. What's startling is the fact that each omission was, or should have been known to 3, 4, 5 or even 6 individuals, all of whom had a professional obligation to fix it or disclose it. The level of scheming that went into creating an illusion of a live-able home is worth studying.

If you look at the actions of the individuals outside of the group context, it's easy to "want to believe" that some of them "just messed up". Human nature for many has that bias, and it's that bias that gets taken advantage of by those who commit insincere acts on a daily basis to earn a living.

Real Estate Brokerage is HUGE business. This transaction was worth approximately $50,000 to the brokers, their agents and other professionals. An additional $50,000 was paid out to local contractors inspectors and others. In truth the total time invested by the Seller's Agent for $12,000 to 20,000 of that commission could have been less than than 15 hours of total work. That's why the sharks like it.

Learning first about this inspector and inspection fraud is likely the "easiest way" for people to step into a real world real estate buying scenario where over 50 acts of gross negligence or fraud were committed by over 10 licensed professionals in 7 companies with $100,000 in transaction proceeds available to the groups of people who made the transaction happen.

Being both a Licensed Real Estate Agent and a Licensed Contractor in a State other than California, I understand the ethical challenges Realtors, Contractors, and Inspectors face on a daily basis. I didn't become any of those full time because of those challenges. I did not want to pin-myself-in to a single line of work which might have required me to "vary my ethics" on a regular basis to make sure I had steady income.

When you realize it was the Seller's Agent who selected the inspectors for the work, met with them with no one else present, paid them, and then presented their reports to the buyers -- absent of notes about defects he was personally aware of at the time of the inspections -- AND you learn that the Seller's Agent presented the Seller's Disclosure documents with the same omissions in them -- while forgetting to declare the same knowledge himself, as is required when he knows it, which he did -- the Fraud and the Conspiracy to Commit Fraud is dripping with Self Evidence.

It's "impossible" to believe both inspectors made "identical" errors and omissions that aligned with those of the Seller and Seller's Agent, without spoken or unspoken coordination. IT. WAS. ABSURD. FRAUD.

The Conspiracy to Commit Fraud, for some of them, is Self Evident.
The Fraud, for some of them, is also Self Evident.

The potential SIZE of the Fixer Network and the Damage that's been done
in the Monterey Bay area is simply GINORMOUS.

These two inspectors alone could have contributed "easily" to over $500,000,000
in obfuscated omissions in the past 20 years, and they are only TWO of how many?

The community members of Carmel, Pebble Beach, Pacific Grove, Monterey, Carmel Valley, Seaside, Marina, Prunedale,
Moss Landing, Salinas, Castroville, and Watsonville have been getting robbed by "Fake Professionals"
using "Trust" as their weapon for a very long time.

Some of these "Professionals" may have also been "serving" San Benito County, Santa Cruz County,
and Santa Clara County Residents as well.

This type of behavior on this scale goes way beyond a "legal matter".

Documents

As of 8/20/2023, this website provides more detailed information about Carriaga's behavior than it does Vierra's, even though Vierra's was financially and ethically more extreme. Structural Pest Control Inspectors are a regulated profession in California and Home Inspectors are not, thus we are focusing on the Inspector who "should have" an Oversight Board interested in metering penalties... (expand for details)

Carriaga ignored and omitted facts in a Grossly Negligent way that suggests an involvement in Conspiracy to Commit Fraud.
Vierra's behavior was about 4 to 10 times worse than Carriaga's from a financial impact perspective.
Vierra fabricated facts, patently contradicted himself, and overlooked far more serious health and safety concerns with some identical "oversights" as Carriaga. He also created a trail which more clearly suggests involvement in Conspiracy to Commit Fraud.
When you compare the two reports, you will find that BOTH INSPECTORS made the exact same types of omissions in two different parts of the home. The odds of one sincere professional making those is extremely low, but could only be deemed Grossly Negligent. The odds of BOTH making identical mistakes without a common goal conveyed one way or another is nil.
Since Home Inspectors are NOT regulated in the State of California, finding someone in the California Bureaucracy or Legal System who cares about Vierra's behavior may not be easy, so for now, Carriaga is the focus. In addition, Carriaga's licensing requires a Bond, and that provides access to another type of complaint.

Complaint Documents

Doc 1 - Complaint Cover Sheet
Doc 2 - Complaint Cover Letter **
Doc 3 - Suggested Charges
Doc 4 - Timeline and Background
Doc 5 - Independent Publisher
Doc 6 - Community Concerns
Doc 7a - Email to Inspectors (DEMAND)
Doc 7b - Attached Letter to Inspectors
Doc 8 - Follow up Letter to CA SPCB investigator for Carriaga
Doc 9 - Demand for Payment from Wheeler
Doc 10 - All email dialogue w/ Wheeler Termite Co to date...
Doc 11 - Complaint Take 2 - Complaint to SPCB against Carriaga that focuses on $4,500 in inspection omissions that were clearly his to call out and more than 10 blatant violations of the Structural Pest Control Act, which they should have been able to identify without my support.. ( Submitted, 7:56 PM, 9/1/2023)..

Doc 12 - Inspection Follow-up to Tom Ineichen. Arrived unprepared, with unfounded biases, and unfamiliar with the details of Statutes he was supposed to be enforcing.

** - the Structural Pest Control Board was "setup" to see if they'd properly respond to procedural malfeasance without major financial loss. Online reviews said they were not doing their job properly in several ways. Based on my experience, the online reviews are accurate.

See Doc 11 for the detailed complaint against Carriaga that properly focuses on his inspection omission that resulted in $4,500 in damages that were squarely his to call out. It details $8,000 in questionable omissions and 1500 sf of 2100 sf of critical, non-livable space that went un-inspected, yet the report was marked as "Complete". That notation is a direct violation of State Codes. and that's but one of 10 or more violations of the Structural Pest Control Act exposed on Doc 11.

(expand for details)

The initial release of Doc 2 was 7/3/2023. It was updated 8/19/2023 to focus on Carriaga with additional financial details.
The original release of Doc 2 did not detail Carriaga's damage omissions in the crawl. It also did not focus on his written reasoning for not inspecting the crawl in detail.
The goal was to see if The Structural Pest Control Board (SPCB) would react to gross procedural malfeasance without the suggestion of major financial loss.
Reviews for their agency found online suggested that might be a problem and it proved to be a major problem.
1. 1. The SPCB was provided everything needed to see gross procedural malfeasance in THREE areas of his Carriaga's report.
  2. They are charted for Consumer Protection.
  3. They should have jumped all over him for the procedural malfeasance that showed he may NEVER have done appropriate inspections and reporting.
  4. Instead, they suggested they had nothing to do because there was no financial loss.
  5. The difference between Consumer Protection oversight with a focus on procedure and financial liability that belongs in courts was totally lost on them.
  6. Doc 8 was the followup after they suggested he had done nothing worthy of administrative action or further investigation because there was no financial loss.
  7. In summary, the SPCB was tested to see if the online reviews indicating they were overlooking procedural malfeasance. Those reviews seem very accurate. The SPCB was tested for their interest in enforcing procedure violations that were egregious, and they failed miserably.
On 8/19/2023, Doc 2 and this website were then updated to include the financial damages related to his behavior and other details were added related to his excuse for failure to inspect, which was baseless. (Doc2 rev3 WIP -- for criminal complaints )

Welcome to Cali-Cazaria. The land filled with laws but none to enforce them.
The Structural Pest Control Board was created in 1935 by industry members, so they could oversee themselves.
Because who would be able to oversee such a complex industry better than they themselves, right?
Fox. Hen House. Chicken Feed.
Consumers = Chicken Feed
No more dining on Consumers.

Termite Inspector - Alex Carriaga - Web Summary and Supporting Exhibits

Alex Carriaga was asked to inspect a home and produced a Termite Report for a Real Estate Agent. At the time of inspection the home was vacant and generally clean in the livable areas. The Real Estate Agent had taken management possession of the vacant home 5 months prior, and he had overseen approximately $40,000 in deep cleaning and repair work in the livable areas that helped conceal more than $100,000 in defects.

All facts suggest Carriaga produced a deficient report as part of a conspiracy involving the Seller's Agent, the Seller, another inspector and two Contractors known to the Seller's Agent. The goal was to to sell a home for more than it was worth.

Approximately 1500 of 2100 sf of non-livable space that is critical area for a Termite Inspection was not inspected, yet the report suggested otherwise. Those two areas contained over $12,000 in defects that were or should have been known to the Seller's Agent and Seller at the time of the inspection. (expand for details...)

600 sf Crawl Space - NOT Inspected - The Crawl space was not inspected due to "height". The crawl space height is 36". 30" is all that is required for an HVAC crawl space installation, yet Carriaga claimed it was too low for him to inspect. There are no exemptions for Crawl Space Inspections in the laws that govern Carriaga. Carriaga claimed instead he did a visual inspection from the opening. He noted no problems. Yet two feet inside the opening were permanent signs of 12" high flood marks on the foundation walls, the ground showed major drainage pathways after flooding, and 15' from the opening was a fully rotten and dry rotted 8x8 main post easily visible from the opening. It's impossible to even glance into the crawl and not realize major water events had transpired prior.
900 sf 2nd Floor Attic - NOT Inspected - The 2nd floor attic was not inspected at all for no logical reason. The attic access was easy to locate and it provided sufficient access. In addition, no notes were made that suggested the 900sf attic had not been inspected. Anyone who read the report would have to assume it was inspected and free of defects. The attic had $8000 in defects obvious to anyone who even glanced in the attic. The odor convey problems rolled out if the attic access door was simple removed. .
Report Marked as a "Complete Report" - Even with this level of omissions of proper and detailed inspections for 1500 of 2100 sf of non-livable space, most telling of pest concerns, Carriaga marked his report as a "Complete Report" . This is a direct violation of State Codes regulating the Trade, and it's but one of a dozen or so that were violated with his report.

In addition, Carriaga noted major problems with the fascia in numerous areas, but he provided no estimates for damages. Per State Law that governs his work, he is not required to provide estimates, but without estimates, the report is fairly useless for disclosure purposes. It was presented by the Real Estate Agent without estimates. The Real Estate Agent presented it during the Bid Consideration process with no estimates, which made it functionally useless for Bid Consideration. That's all we had to rely upon to make a Binding Offer on the property. That does not qualify as "negotiating in good faith" , as is required by CA 1102.6.

Oh what a mess they've made...

Carriaga has refused to provide any proper explanations for the report errors and omissions.

Carriaga acted as if he is just easy going and meant no harm. He seems to be relying on the incompetence defense to excuse his behavior as negligent.

With that defense, there is no way for Carriaga, the Company Owner Bob Wheeler, nor the CA Structural Pest Control Board to ensure anyone that any inspections done by Carriaga since 2008 were actually done with a reasonable amount of due care.

While we feel there was a spoken or unspoken conspiracy, based on these facts and others related to the exact same omissions by the home inspector, this qualifies as "Gross Negligence", at a minimum, due the "reckless departure from standard of due care" exhibited in multiple areas of the inspection and reporting process.

Known value to Seller
Defect at time of Omission Quotes to Rectify
Termite Inspector 1 - Crawl Space - Structural Omissions** ( 12 pgs ) view ($4k+) [ $4,358 // $4,600 ]**
Termite Inspector 2 - 2nd floor Attic - Extreme Damage Omissions ( 8 pgs) view ($8k+) [ $7,950 // $8,500 ]
Termite Inspector 3 - Fascia - Damage Scope Omissions ( 9 pgs ) view ($8k+) [ $8,805 // $7,450 ]
Total ($20k+) [ $21,113 // $20,550 ]

Other Exhibits
Termite Inspector 4 - "Partial" Report marked as "Complete" . Funded by RE Agent - view
Termite Inspector 99a - Printable Exec Summary and Licensing Information - view
Termite Inspector 99b -Carriaga's full report" - view

TI 1 - Original Document with Exhibits before they were broken out into separate documents. ($15k-18k+)

** -- LIABILITY NOTEs - Financially, only the Crawl Space Damage is Full Responsibility for Carriaga / Wheeler Termite. Minor amount for Attic may or may not apply, but is not being pursued. Procedurally both omissions are relevant plus the "Complete Report" Notation. The Fascia damage is noted here because he marked it as damaged, but the report was delivered for consideration without any estimates for scope for consideration. If confusion and obfuscation was not a goal, it's unclear how it could have turned out so riddled with problems.

Crawl Space - The Crawl Space damage is clearly the liability of Carriaga/Wheeler Termite. That damage is exactly why he was paid to do an inspection. There is no way to "prove" the Seller's Agent nor Seller were aware of that damage. They "should have been made aware" by the Home Inspector a week prior. Mysteriously, that report omitted all of the crawl damage details as well. The Seller should have known from his 2015 report, but the damage and major work to rectify flooding in the crawl was omitted from that report too..
2nd Floor Attic - Only a small portion of the 2nd Floor attic damage should belong to Carriaga. The damage conditions caused reason for concern for matters he reports on, and that's why all damage and the condition should have been noted boldly. Liability for this ultimately belongs initially to the Seller's Agent and Seller given both were aware of this damage and failed to disclose it. The fact this included active participation by the agent, it is categorized as Broker Involved Disclosure Fraud (BIDF), and the Liability thus shits to the Broker of Record for the Office.
Fascia - The inspector had no obligation to provide quotes. The Real Estate Agent presented this as part of the Disclosure Documents during the bidding process. The time to have provided quotes for consideration was at that time. This Liability is that of the Seller, but it should transfer easily to the Agent and his Broker given the Seller can claim the Agent handled everything for him and he was unaware of the extent of the damage or the rules.

Quotes to Rectify --- Details

Quotes - Pre-populated Docs for Quotes - view

Quotes - Contractor 1 | Contractor 2

Quotes - View/Print Summary Spreadsheet

Total for Rectifying Defects -- $20k to $21k

Home Inspector - Robert & BrannonVierra - Web Summary and Supporting Exhibits

Home Inspector Exhibits

This document is "abridged" at this time. I could spend weeks or months on Vierra's gross negligence, misrepresentations and frauds. I will wait to see how much is required by whoever might get involved w/ oversight.

HI 1 - Analysis initially written during escrow & modified after. Not updated recently (data table pgs 11-15)

their report view (link went public/live on 3/4/2024)

Quotes to Rectify
HI 1 - 2nd Floor Attic Racoon Invasion ( 16 pgs) view [ 7950+2485 // 8500+1850 ]
HI 2- Gas Furnace - Explosion Hazard (12 pgs) view [ 10,000 // 10,000 ]
HI 3 - Gas Water Heater - Explosion Hazzard (13 pgs) view [ 3000 // 2000 ]
HI 4a - Crawl Space - Structural Defects - (19 pgs) view [ 4358 // 4600 ]
HI 4b - Crawl Space - Insulation Defects [ 5000 // 2000 ]
HI 5 - Concrete Slab Seizing (9 pgs) view [ 3500 // 3500 ]
HI 6 - North Yard Grade - East French Drain (18 pgs) view [ 10,000 // 6500 ]
HI 7 - No Hot Water (12 pgs) view [ 25,000 // 17,000 ]
HI 8 - Other Plumbing deceit (5 pgs) view [ 0 // 0 ]
HI 9 - Moss on Roof (10 pgs) view [ 3000// 2000 ]
Total $74,293 // $57,950

Robert Vierra
Home Inspector

Brannon Vierra
Home Inspector

Quotes to Rectify --- Details

Quotes - Pre-populated Docs for Quotes - view

Quotes - Contractor 1 & 2 view

Quotes - View/Print Summary Spreadsheet

Total for Rectifying Defects -- $50k+

Comments

Termite Inspectors - The California Structural Pest Control Board regulates Termite Inspectors.

Home Inspectors - Home inspectors in California are not Licensed Professionals. There is a state law for oversight referred to as the "Trade Practice Act", but it's unclear who would enforce it. The Home Inspector's complaint will go directly to the County Prosecutor and Attorney General given there seems to be no other State Agency with oversight.

Combined Complaint - Instead of creating two separate sets of complaint documents, they are being combined. The combination is required to show the errors and omissions that were made in TANDEM, which is what suggests a Conspiracy, with the Seller's Agent at the Center. The Exhibits are split out per Inspector.

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