TOPIC: I have an ethical question.

I agree with the consensus above. You have an obligation to your client and that is all. I had one similar and understand your feeling though. The attic and crawl was full of "microbial contamination". The realtor thought the bank was trying to get the buyer to back out of the deal because they didn't want to clean it up or drop price. She felt they wanted to move on and find a buyer that would not get a home inspection.

I disclose to no one! If my clients agent wants a copy of the report or any inquiries about the property I tell them they need my clients permission and that goes for anyone wanting to know anything regarding the property in question.

Your job is to inspect the home, period!  You should not be concerned if your client will purchase the house with a price reduction or not. Just inspect the home.  Most likely the report will be given to the owner, if your client backs out of the inspection.

Don't worry about telling anyone at Keller Williams, they really do not want to know. 

INteresting thread and interesting answers. I am not sure how I would  handle this my self. But let me pose the question this way. What if it was not a structural concern, but something like a non stop plumbing leak in a vacant home? Or a gas leak at the water heater? Then what? Tell no one? Or do you guys think you need to make someone aware of these problems?

INteresting thread and interesting answers. I am not sure how I would  handle this my self. But let me pose the question this way. What if it was not a structural concern, but something like a non stop plumbing leak in a vacant home? Or a gas leak at the water heater? Then what? Tell no one? Or do you guys think you need to make someone aware of these problems?

Ian, what ever the concern big or small you let your client know thats what you are getting paid to do..

It's interesting reading all this worry about legal this and liability that.  In Virginia, in order to submit an addendum to the contract requesting repairs made of home inspected items, a copy of the entire report must be submitted at the same time.  Everyone gets a copy and reads the home inspection report - buyer, seller, all agents, the bank, loan officer, even the termite guys.  It's all in the open for everyone to see.

I also have a clause on my contract which my client checks (yes or no) which gives me permission to discuss the report with anyone who calls me.  If a repair guy has a question about where this is or what I meant by that, he calls me and I tell him.  I'm not sure exactly what my "liability" is in that.  I have had sellers call me thanking me for making them aware of stuff in the inspection report.  I have had others sellers call me to say they were impressed that I found something they thought was hidden.  They got that information from my report!

My agreement has many clauses which protect me from misuse or misinterpretation by third parties.  My lawyer wrote all that into the agreement, along with the check-the-box yes or no.  Geez, I even have a real report on my website, sans the names.