Home Reports — Business Issues
Sourcing Home Reports
Options
(1) Purchase Packaged Solution—eg Law Society Home Reports.
(2) Package In-House—obtain a single survey and energy efficiency report from a local surveyor and add property questionnaire.
Issues to consider
(1) Service levels
(2) Deferred payment arrangements
(a) With whom does client of contract?
(b) Charges in relation to failure to sell/withdrawal from the market
(3) Ultimate liability (both to purchaser and seller in reliance on home report)
(4) Provision of additional information such as specialist reports
(5) Timing of reports (bearing in mind that at the time of marketing they must be no more than 12 weeks old)
(6) Possibility of pre-inspection/reinspection (particularly useful for valuation issues before marketing)
(7) Will the surveyor see the property questionnaire before inspection?
(8) Who in the firm will have instruction authority and how will those instructions be given?
(9) Will clients be given a choice of surveyor?
Monitoring and Delivery of Home Reports
Issues to consider
(1) Who within the office will ultimately be responsible for delivery monitoring and compliance?
(2) What systems are going to be put in place?
(a) To ensure properties are not put on the market prior to a home report being available
(b) To ensure home reports are made available within the maximum nine-day requirement (subject to payment)
(c) To ensure the properties are not withdrawn from the market for more than four weeks and remarketed without the home report Pack being updated
(d) To monitor compliance with the society’s and the firm’s own guidelines and practice
(e) To identify whether or not a prospective purchaser is entitled to site of the home report Pack
(f) To make and receive payment for home reports
(g) To deliver home reports to prospective purchasers
(h) To monitor changes and updates to the home report documents
(j) To discuss the content of packs with clients
(3) Charging for copies of home reports made available to prospective purchasers?
(a) How much is the charge?
(b) Delivery and payment method?
(c) Anti-money-laundering exemption from requirement to ID purchaser for purposes of supply?
(d) What does the selling client think?
(4) 12 week warnings on shelf life to clients
(5) Staff training
