The Home Health Blind Spot: In 12 States, Anyone Can Call Themselves an Inspector

Imagine going in for your annual physical only to discover that your doctor has no formal education in medicine, no license, and no insurance policy in case something goes wrong.It’s a disconcerting thought—to say the least—and, depending on where you live, it may be the reality for your home purchase.Home inspectors play a vital role in homebuilding and home sales, exposing problems that an ordinary buyer could not reasonably identify during a showing, before that buyer becomes financially responsible for them. But 12 states don’t regulate the profession at all, according to the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI), and only 35 clearly require a conventional state-issued license or registration.In the remaining states, the barrier to entry can be remarkably low.As Dillon M. White, an attorney, constitutional law professor, and TikToker, recently demonstrated, becoming a home inspector in Minnesota may require little more than opening a business and declaring yourself one.“I just became a home inspector!” he says in the opening of a viral post under his account "dadchats." “Because I declared it as such.”And while licensing requirements are often criticized for raising the co...