FOX23 Investigates: Wagoner family experiencing issues with home following inspection | News

WAGONER, Okla. — Before a Wagoner woman bought her home, she had it inspected. However, she said the inspector missed some major issues and now her family is paying the price.

FOX23 looked into how something like this could happen and what home buyers need to watch out for.

Buying a house and making it a home became a nightmare for Stephanie Campbell. She said her family’s flooring started to buckle just weeks after they moved in.

“I’m like, ‘What in the world could that be?’ And then another spot pops up and then another spot pops up, and then another spot pops up and I’m like, ‘What is going on with that?’” said Campbell. “All while having plumbing issues.”

Stephanie said her family bought the house in May after flippers renovated the property and thought she did her due diligence by hiring an inspector to check the home.

FOX23 asked if she was able to confirm if the inspector was certified.

“Oh yeah, he has all — I mean licensed, bonded, all of the things,” said Campbell.

She said after the flooring issues, people she knows suggested she call a foundation expert.

“The gentleman went over there, and he was like, ‘There’s a trench under your house. Do you know that?’ And I was like, ‘I’m sorry, what?’ And he’s like, ‘There’s a trench, an open trench — There’s water in it.’,” said Campbell.

Stephanie said from there, it was one discovery after another such as 20 trusses in the floor that needed to be replaced, sewage leaking outside their home and a ruptured pipe.

“It’s just bubbling water, so every time my washer is used, the trench fills up,” said Campbell.

Stephanie told FOX23 there were also bathroom pipes not connected in the crawl space that dump water into the trench below.

“It’s affecting basically my whole foundation on this side of the house,” said Campbell. “The severity of it is astounding. [It] really…feels deliberate, like he deliberately missed these things, but for what reason?

Stephanie said she has used inspectors in the past but this time, she didn’t get the report back quickly. She said between moving, her child’s birthday, and school letting out they did not think much of it.

When she finally did get the inspector’s report it showed 17 recommendations and noted three safety hazards but didn’t say anything about the problems she found after she moved in.

“It doesn’t mention any of the other issues. It doesn’t say a word about the trench,” said Campbell.

Stephanie showed FOX23 pictures she was sent by the inspector after reaching back out over email.

“These are other pictures that he had, that even just seeing this stuff, we would have been like. ‘Hey, something’s going on. Something is not right,” Campbell said.

In an email the inspector told Stephanie, “We are not liable for latent defects” and “I’m not able to tell you why the issues are happening now; I can only be responsible for what I could see on the day of inspection.”

“I’m not getting any resolution from the inspector. He said he’s not responsible for it, that he couldn’t have foreseen the issues. I partially agree he couldn’t have foreseen the issues, on the outside of the home. I don’t believe that’s on him,” said Campbell. “Underneath this house is 100% him.”

Stephanie said she is concerned the issues stem from inadequate work by the flippers.

“They worked on it for about a year before they listed it, and then it sat for a while when the deal on the other house fell through. This one, it was actually pending, which leads my husband to suspect that her inspector caught it, and they walked away,” said Campbell. “Then again, that’s not disclosed to anyone.”

Knowing what she knows now, Stephanie wishes her inspector would have been more thorough. She said it would’ve saved her the stress and cost of making repair after repair.

“Every time it feels like a kick to the gut, like it’s every time,” said Cambell. “It’s, ‘Oh well, yeah, you have this issue but let me do you one better — you also have this issue, and you have this issue, and you also have this issue’.”

Stephanie said she wants to make other potential home buyers aware.

“There has to be something done when someone that you’ve paid your hard-earned money for to do something or you and they just don’t do it, there has to be something that can be done,” said Stephanie.

Attorney Sherry Doyle with legal aid said there are a few things you can do to protect yourself.

“You need to know what they’re looking at. So, what is that? Look at the contract, what does it cover? What does it not cover? What will the inspection do? What will the inspector do? What will they not do?” Doyle said.

She said it’s also a good idea to get multiple opinions on the home’s condition. It can be pricey, but spending more upfront might help you save money later.

“Maybe one catches something another doesn’t, or one thinks…there’s a bigger problem here than the other one,” Doyle said.

If you get the report before closing, Sherry said that gives the butter a chance to potentially renegotiate the cost of the house.

“To kind of take into account some of that, or potentially just walking away from the transaction,” said Doyle.

She said you can also check the inspector’s certification online through the Oklahoma Committee of Home Inspector Examiners.

FOX23 checked and Stephine’s inspection is certified through the state as well as the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors.

If you still run into issues, you can file a complaint against the company online through the State of Oklahoma Construction Industries Board.

Legal Aid also told FOX23 it is important to note when filing a complaint that the board does not mediate or resolve disputes with individual consumers.

The board only regulates the licenses and uses the complaints to bring or not bring disciplinary actions. A consumer must sue in court to recover damages.