Liability of Home Inspectors
Plaintiffs Jackie and Doug Zerjal contracted with Defendant Bill Theisman d/b/a Sure Home Appraisal and Inspections to inspect the a home they were about to purchase from Daech & Bauer Construction in May of 2006. Three years later the Zerjals filed suit against the builder and the inspector claiming a multitude of issues with the home. The trial court entered a judgment in favor of the plaintiffs and against Daech & Bauer Construction for $94,000.
The Zerjals alleged that the home inspector failed to discover and/or disclose numerous defects in the home that "should have been known to a reasonably careful licensed building inspector." The inspector moved to dismiss arguing that the limit of liability provision in the contract applied and the suit was barred as it was not filed within the 2 year statute of limitation. The trial court granted the defendant's motion to dismiss and plaintiffs appealed.
At the Appellate Court plaintiff argued that the exculpatory clauses were unconscionable. The Court said that while while these clauses are generally disfavored under Illinois law, they are enforceable unless: 1. enforcment would be against public policy and 2. something in the social relationship of the parties militates against enforcement. (The Court cited common carriers and employer-employee relationships as examples). As the relationship between a home inspector and a home inspector did not reach the level of a "special social relationship" and the Illinois legislature does not prohibit or limit exculpatory clauses of home inspectors, the trial court's decision was affirmed. 
