Letter from ASHI President Mike Wagner

March 25, 2020

ASHI Valued Members,

This is not how we envisioned it, but It is a unique honor to serve as your President during these challenging times. It has become very apparent to me over the past 20 plus years of opportunity to make a living in our profession that home inspectors are passionate people. We are passionate about our profession, our values, our communities and yes, our opinions. Ask a dozen inspectors a question and they will give you 2 dozen opinions. I have also learned that hand and hand with this passion comes compassion. We care. Now more than ever, this matters.

With that in mind, I have always tried to maintain the philosophy to run towards adversity to meet it head on. The adversity we are all facing today is multifaceted. We are trying to manage our businesses to the best of our ability. We are trying to manage our families as we focus on health and safety measures for our loved ones. We are trying to be responsible citizens as we do our part for the common good of our communities. Finding balance in these efforts can at times create conflict and questions as we do our best to prioritize our responsibilities. The reality to our current situation is that some questions just do not have answers that fit all.

Yesterday, I sent out a message emphasizing the importance of our role as professionals in the real estate process. This is something that I am passionate about and I am proud to be an advocate for you and our profession. I want to be clear that our value is not defined by this pandemic or by the decisions our state and local leaders have to make in defining essential vs non-essential businesses. I also want to be clear that we do have a significant responsibility to do the right thing for the greater good of our communities even if it goes against our normal business management practices. This is much bigger than performing another inspection. We should fully understand and cooperate with the directives of our public leaders in our local markets. Going against these directive could put you, your family and your community at greater risk of contracting and spreading this disease. Also keep in mind that there could be insurance coverage and liability concerns if one is performing prohibited business functions during an emergency period. If there is any question on how to interpret health/safety and business practice directives, we should go directly to the source and contact the appropriate government representative for clarification.

There are states that have determined that home inspection businesses are non-essential during this emergency period and other states have listed our businesses as essential. Many states have not made this determination yet and there are those that have been ambiguous in their directive language. All of this is changing day-to-day and I encourage you to stay fully informed as this evolves. ASHI has created a COVID-19 State Update map tool that can help all of us stay current on a state by state basis. This is located on the lower right corner of the home page on our website www.homeinspector.org.

Please keep in mind that this is not a one size fits all situation as personal and governmental decisions are made and changed across our country. Please be intentional in your responsibility and stay safe.

Mike Wagner
2020 ASHI President