Boston Globe: Home inspector is fined, forced from state board

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Home inspector is fined, forced from state board

By Raphael , Globe Staff  |  August 16, 2005

The former chairman of the state Board of Registration of Home Inspectors has

been forced off the board and ordered to pay nearly $15,000 in fines and

restitution after his firm faced multiple complaints that its inspectors had

missed major problems requiring expensive repairs.

C. Simpson, whose Wakefield-based Black Paw Home Inspection Inc. is

one of the largest in Massachusetts, signed a consent order last week with the

board that requires him to pay a $7,500 fine and $7,300 in restitution to

three of the 11 homeowners who reported slipshod inspections. Simpson's license

was also put on two years' probation.

Simpson defended his company's work in an interview yesterday, saying the

complaints against him and his inspectors constituted a tiny percentage of the

tens of thousands of inspections Black Paw has conducted.

Simpson, who served as chairman of the home inspectors board from 2001 until

last year, also said he suspects he was a political scapegoat because he was

one of 27 people appointed to positions by Acting Governor Jane Swift on her

last day in office whom Governor Mitt Romney subsequently tried unsuccessfully

to unseat.

''I feel like I had a target on my back, because I was seen as a Swift

person, " Simpson said.

In one of the inspections cited in the case, Simpson's inspector failed to

spot badly rotted eaves in an East Boston house. In another, an inspector missed

a leaky dishwasher that had rotted the kitchen floor of a Chestnut Hill

house. Another complaint involved a termite infestation in a Hyannis garage.

In each of the inspections, according to the consent decree, Simpson's

company had issued paperwork that attempted to limit the firm's financial

liability

in the event that the inspector made errors or omissions, a violation of state

law.

The penalties levied against Simpson are the largest ever meted out by the

state against a home inspector, officials said.

Simpson said he signed the consent order to end what had become a lengthy and

expensive legal battle that has already gutted his firm.

''They just wore me down, " he said. ''Has the company made mistakes before?

Yes. I've given money to people who, over the last 10 years, were the victims

of a mistake. But I'm not going to pay people where we didn't do anything

wrong. I need to stand up and back up my people. "

Anne L. -- director of the state Division of Professional Licensure,

which oversees the board -- said the Simpson case sends a message that consume

rs can expect the state to protect their interests, even if they complain

about the chairman of a state board.

''I think this points out the fact that even the chairman of the board is

subject to its supervision and that the protections that were intended by the

law

are being enforced, " said.

According to , Simpson's firm had more complaints lodged against it

than any other company since the creation of the home inspectors' board six

years ago.

All told, 26 of the state's 561 licensed home inspectors in Massachusetts

face multiple complaints from homebuyers, said. None of the other

members

of the five-person board face complaints against them, she said.

''The fine was intended to send the message of disapproval, and the

restitution was to make consumers whole, " said. ''He can continue to

practice,

but the public can form its decisions based on the actions of the board. "

Tony O'Dea, one of the three homeowners who will receive financial

restitution under the consent order, said he was pleased to be receiving money

for his

troubles.

Since purchasing a two-family house in Taunton four years ago after a Black

Paw inspection, O'Dea said he has uncovered multiple issues that should have

been detected, including a pipe so corroded that it disintegrated and spewed

sewage into the basement and a porch roof so flimsy that it blew off in sheets

during a rainstorm.

''These were not cosmetic, but health and safety issues, " said O'Dea, who

will receive $4,325 under the agreement.

Simpson's defenders, including Lavergne, a former member of the Board

of Home Inspectors, say his case was marred by irregularities and that

Simpson should never have been penalized for any allegedly poor work by his

employees.

In an affidavit filed in the case, Lavergne said he regretted voting in

September 2003 to prosecute the matter, a vote that ultimately led to this

month's

consent order. ''Had I known then what I know today, I would not have voted to

refer the cases to prosecution, " Lavergne wrote.

Simpson's troubles may not end with the consent order. An East Boston

homeowner who contends her Black Paw inspection fell woefully short refused to

take

part in the settlement struck last week, and is pursuing her case against the

firm in court.

Simpson, defending himself against critics, also faxed out a letter to the

Globe yesterday showing a supporter in state government: Romney himself.

Dated Aug. 11, just after Simpson agreed to leave the board because of the

violations, Romney wrote, ''I thank you for the contributions you have made

during your tenure, and I am sure that you will be greatly missed. It is through

the efforts of public service-minded individuals like you that our great

Commonwealth continues to grow and prosper. "

Raphael can be reached at rlewis@....  

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