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State Fires 4 More Home Inspection Companies

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By JOHN W. ALLMAN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 29, 2007

TAMPA — The state My Safe Florida Home program announced today it has cut ties with four more inspection companies.

The sweeping overhaul also includes changes to the program standards for inspectors hired to review homes statewide. My Safe Florida Home exists to tell homeowners whether their houses can withstand a hurricane, and to offer financial incentives to eligible residents to make safety improvements.

The state two weeks ago fired Home Inspections LLC, one of the 11 firms contracted to perform inspections, because of multiple contract violations.

Today, the state said it is not renewing contracts with AmeriPro Inspection Corp., Thomas Enterprising, Florida Real Property Administrators and Professional Service Industries.

The decision comes after both a contract performance audit and a quality assurance review of inspections for each of the firms. The quality-assurance review involved the re-inspection of 3,000 homes.

The Tampa Tribune on Oct. 14 reported that a random sampling of both inspection reports showed widespread discrepancies. Among the errors noted were differences between inspectors about the number of window and door openings and the specific measurements of those openings.

The state at the time said a 12-inch leeway is allowed when taking measurements. Today, however, the state announced that inspectors must now provide actual measurements.

Reporter John W. Allman can be reached at (813) 259-7915 or jallman@tampatrib.com.

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