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

1. In  January and February 2021 TWO inspection reports were created for a residential property in Monterey County as part of a "pre-sale" document creation process.
   
   

2. The inspection reports were presented to us as "disclosure documents" prior to making an offer to purchase a home. The reports were provided by  the Seller's Agent. As we found out later, the Seller's Agent paid for the reports and he was the only person present with the inspectors during inspections.  It's unclear if the Seller reimbursed the Agent for them, if the Seller ever saw copies of them, or if the Seller even knew they had been created. Written statements by the Seller indicate he was unaware of report contents and defects properly noted in his own reports.
   
   

3. As experienced real estate buyers we recognized odd property staging, suspicious reports, and unusual Seller Agent behavior that prevented us from trusting anyone involved. There were illogical contract clauses too, but we'll get into that later. 
   
   

4. We ratified a contract to purchase the property on April 1, 2021 for $895,000.  The transaction closed escrow May 15, 2021.
   
   

5. BOTH inspection reports were found to have had IDENTICAL , FLAGRANT omissions related to the 2nd floor attic.

   • BOTH inspectors failed to inspect the 2nd floor attic.  A 900 sf space with a 5' peak. 

   • BOTH inspectors "forgot" to make any comments about their inability to inspect the 2nd floor attic in their  REPORT Summaries. That is INSPECTOR SACRILEGE.   

   • Anyone reading their report summaries would presume the 2nd floor attic was inspected due to an absence of comments to the contrary.   

   • BOTH inspectors failed to note $7,000 to  $10,000 in defects in the 2nd floor attic, because "supposedly" neither looked into it "but forgot to mention it" in their summaries.
     
     

6. BOTH inspection reports were found to have had nearly IDENTICAL, FLAGRANT omissions related to the Crawl Space.  

   • BOTH inspectors claimed in their report details that the crawl  was not fully inspected. One claimed it was due to crawl height, and the other claimed it was due to debris.  

   • BOTH inspectors failed to note patently incomplete inspections of the Crawl in their report summaries?!  This is the second of three critical spaces un-inspected not noted in either of their summaries?. 

   • Anyone reading their report summaries would presume the crawl was inspected due to an absence of comments to the contrary.   

   •  BOTH inspectors failed to properly note major structural defects and details visible just from the opening of the crawl in their report summaries indicating major flooding had occurred, anywhere in their reports. 

   • The Home Inspector was worse because he has multiple conflicting facts that indicate he was in fact able to navigate the entire crawl space, while claiming he didn't in other areas. At least the Termite Inspector just claimed he couldn't go in due to height even though that was a lie, proven false by the Home Inspector.  
     
     

7. At the time of the inspections, the Seller's Agent, who was the only other person there with the inspectors, as mentioned prior, knew about the 2nd floor attic defects in full detail.  He also knew about the crawl space defects in detail, because he had taken management possession of  the home 6 months prior when the seller moved out of state. 

   • At that time, a portion of the 2nd floor ceiling was missing due to a rodent invasion in the attic.  The Seller's Agent's Contractor installed new drywall to close up the ceiling hole and cut in the new small attic access under the Seller's Agent's supervision. 

   • Well before that time, the crawl space had flooded with as much as 9" of water and a professional company had installed an unusual crawl space drainage system that no one managed to note in their reports. 

More Facts, with more concerning details about The Home Inspector, who appears to be a real Pinocchio himself...

1. The attic defects were easy for any layman to see or smell with just a "peek", and peeking was very easy. 
   
   

2. Full access to walk the attic was easy too,  for those not grossly overweight or lying through their teeth.   
   
   

3. "Forgetting" to tell the report recipient(s) about critical areas "un-inspected", in TANDEM, is what makes this absolutely HORRIBLE and CONSPIRATORIAL , SIMULTANEOUSLY.   When done in TANDEM, it's beyond forgiveness, because it made the conspiracy OBVIOUS.
   
   

   • • The termite inspection report had one additional flagrant omission that concealed an additional $8,000 in defects along with another Procedural fubar. The total for Alex's omitted defects is $15,000 to 18,000.  He also managed to forget to note he didn't inspect the 700sf crawl space in his report summary too.  No Attic inspected? No Crawl inspected?  No notes in the summary about that?  A LOT of defects in both that were known to the Seller's Agent? 
         

     • The home inspection report had a herd of flagrant omissions and misstatements that totaled $50,000 to $70,000 in overlooked defects. Most of the omissions aligned perfectly with omission strategies employed by the Seller and Seller's Agent, and that's what made the conspiracy so OBVIOUS, too.
       
       

4. The Termite Inspection report was Bad. Unforgivable. The Home Inspection report was far worse.  

   • • Deep in the bowels of the Home Inspection Report was a comment that suggested the Attic inspection was completed. 

     • On the following page, after a reader's thoughts would have moved on, the report indicated  the 2nd Floor Attic Access was too small for humans.  Per the inspector, the home needed to be modified to provide access to inspect the 2nd floor attic.  A detail that, if true, most certainly should have made the report summary in BOLD and at the TOP of the summary, and a level of suggestive writing and written confusion that took me WEEKS to read clearly. 

     •  I'm 5'10", 170 pounds.  I fit through the opening without problem, as did a Contractor with me.   My Termite Inspector was "shorter and thicker" than I was. He had no problems either.  

     • The Home Inspector's Son was with him on Inspection Day.  He's thin as a rail. He did the crawl space inspection for the pair. He could have blown in and out of that hole with ease.  We suspect he was in there, but we don't know for sure. 

     • Even a very obese man could have stuck his head through the access opening and seen the damage with ease. The rafters were only 2x6's, the damage started within inches of the opening, and the SMELL rolled out as soon as the access panel was removed. 

     • The Home Inspector not only failed to note an inspection omission in his report, he fabricated facts about attic access in the bowels of his report, too. He used a lot of confusing writing that no Inspectors Pen should have ever uttered.  Lying through his Teeth.
       
       

Robert claims to have done 11,000 inspections in Monterey County since the 1990s. 
If he omitted $50,000 in defects on every inspection to build his Realtor Referral Network
as a"trusted resource" for minimizing transactions problems,
he (and his son) may have covered up as much as $550,000,000 in defects in his career.  

Summary

When viewed in broader context this Conspiracy involved the Seller, Seller's Agent, other Brokerage Members, two Contractors brought into the transaction by the Seller's Agent, as well as BOTH of these inspectors.  

These two inspectors were paid approximately $700 "on the books" to create two "pre-sale" inspection reports. 

• The Termite Inspector omitted the identification and quantification of $15,000 to $18,000 in defects all sincere Termite Inspectors would have identified with ease.   

• The Home Inspector omitted $50,000 to $70,000 in obvious defects all sincere Home Inspectors would have identified with ease. 

Both inspectors added their "2 cents" to the scheme without realizing the Fountain would be overflowing from too many dime drops by others when all the "contributions" were tallied.

If any Defense Attorney wants to claim this doesn't prove "Conspiracy",
my expert witness will be the Grandest Odd's Maker I can afford.
DNA convictions are still based on "odds" and "statistics", too.  

After escrow closed, we documented numerous conspiracies involving the larger transaction Participants.  Then, these two Inspectors were contacted in writing and asked about the content of their reports, with detailed concerns provided. 

• Robert Vierra failed to respond.  No response was expected. There is nothing he can say or put in writing that can explain his work without implicating he and his son further. 

• Alex Carriaga responded. We had a short verbal and written dialogue.  Alex acknowledged all of his mistakes. He claimed his major mistakes with the Attic were fully accidental. He acknowledged Gross Negligence with the failure to report the inspection omission on his report.  When asked how he and the home inspector made the exact same, egregious mistakes with that attic, he claimed it was just a "coincidence".  He went on to claim that marking a report as "complete" that had no repair estimates was semi-standard practice. A very concerning admission at a minimum, and arguably done with criminal complacency in context. I was so focused on the Attic I forgot to challenge him on the missing crawl space inspection comment too. 

When you see the "mistakes" BOTH of these inspectors made with the 2nd floor attic,
along with the rest, feel absence for forgiveness.  

Home Inspector Licensing and Oversight

• In California, and 20 other states, Home Inspectors are not "licensed". Anyone can be a Home Inspector who declares themselves one.  (view)  Someone can go from Grocery Clerk to Home Inspector in matter of weeks. Getting work would be difficult unless you have an in at a Real Estate Company. Learning about the schemes it takes to become a "preferred inspector" by realtors can cost a soul.  This is a  TERRIFYING THOUGHT.  

• Although not licensed in CA, Home Inspectors are supposedly "regulated" via the  "Trade Practice Act" (Chapter 338), enacted in 1996 .  One  website indicates regulation transpires via the California Contractors State Licensing Board (CSLIB) .  A call to the CSLIB indicated they did not perform complaint reviews for  Home Inspectors. (view) 

Termite Inspector Licensing and Oversight

• California Licenses inspectors via a "Structural Pest Control Board"  view

• The board currently licenses 3,.100 companies and 25.400 individuals. They approve 3,700 initial applications per  year (  pg 5  view )