General legalese

The following terms and conditions describe the framework for the relationship between you, the client, and us, TLC Professional Inspections, Inc. 

By accessing our website and using our services, you accept and agree to be bound by the terms and provision of this agreement. In addition, when using these particular services, you shall be subject to any posted guidelines or rules applicable to such services. Any participation in this service will constitute acceptance of this agreement. If you do not agree to abide by the above, please do not use these services.

The purpose of these terms and conditions is to set clear expectations for both you and us to ensure a positive and mutually beneficial relationship. However, we also understand that sometimes life happens. If you have concerns about anything, please let us know. We are happy to work with you as long as it is based on mutual respect and understanding. We are nice to you, you are nice to us. 

We reserve the right to update these conditions from time to time as needed, so feel free to review them on a regular basis. 

Property Preparation

To ensure a positive and smooth home inspection experience for all parties, we ask you that you or your realtor please prepare the property by doing the following before our visit:

• Verify that all utilities are turned on and working
  If water, gas, and/or electricity are not turned on, we cannot test what we need to test for you. This means we cannot give you a complete report, we have to come out a second time and charge you for a second trip, etc. To avoid such issues, please confirm that water, gas, and power are flowing freely and uninhibited to the premises by the time our friendly inspectors show up. 
   
• Arrange to be present to unlock the home for us or providing us in advance with the code to the lock box as applicable
  It is tough for us to inspect the inside of the house if we cannot get inside. Because we do not like breaking windows or getting arrested because the nosy neighbor across the street called the police, please meet us at the property to let us in, or arrange for an alternate method of entry, e.g. a key to a lock box or asking the owner to let us in (as applicable). 
   
• Ensure any pets are secured
  We really like pets. However, we do not like getting scratched, bitten, or eaten. Please make sure pets are locked up and out of our way. That way, we can do our inspection safely, completely, and promptly (instead of spending most of the time playing with puppies). 
   
• Remove padlocks from gates and electrical panels
  We have great appreciation for security and protecting property. However, to be able to access all areas of the property and stick our inspector noses into electrical panels, please temporarily unlock gates and electrical panels. We are happy to help you lock up again after we are done. 
   
• Verify crawlspaces and attic access hatches are accessible (where applicable)
  We do our best to get into crawl spaces below or attics as long as it is safe to do so because there can be lots of interesting things to see (just ask us; we will show you photos). However, we need to be able to get access and set up our ladder as applicable. Please make sure that any access panels, covers, or hatches are readily accessible to us and that any obstructions have been moved out of the way. 

Home Inspection Agreement

These days you cannot do anything anymore without having to sign something. Same goes for home inspections. In accordance with the Arizona standards of practice for home inspections, you must sign a home inspection agreement before or at the time of inspection. This agreement defines the scope and limitations of the home inspection. We will provide you with two copies of the agreement at the time of inspection. One for you to fill out and sign for our records, and one for you to read and take home to help you with your insomnia. If you would like to see the agreement before the inspection, you can download a copy of the agreement in PDF format from the TLC Professional Inspections web site at http://www.tlcproinspections.com/answers/downloads/ and bring a signed copy to the inspection. 

Pricing
 

Our prices are very competitive, but more importantly: we are worth it - we promise. The actual cost of the home inspection is a flat fee based on the square footage of the home to be inspected. We do not charge any extra fees for accessing icky crawlspaces or inspecting older, uh, we mean more mature homes. To get a quote, please contact us with the square footage of the home you would like us to inspect. 

Please note that sometimes there are additions to a home that were added without permit, meaning their square footage is not included in the official listed square footage. If we inspect the addition, its square footage is added to determine the inspection cost for the total square footage. 

Payment 

Payment is due at the end of the inspection. We show up and provide service, you give us money - makes sense, right? We happily accept credit cards, checks, and cash. We do not accept bitcoin, live stock, or IOUs as payment. Returned checks incur a $25 service fee. If circumstances prevent you from providing payment at the time of inspection, please mail payment several days before the inspection to: TLC Professional Inspections, Inc., P.O. Box 87063, Tucson AZ 85754 or call us with a credit card number at 520-991-1717. 

Refunds

After we complete the inspection and deliver the report to you, we feel that we have earned our pay and do not normally issue refunds. However, if exceptional circumstances exists that would warrant a refund for a particular scenario, please feel free to contact us to discuss further. We are reasonable people and open to conversation. Just be nice and don't yell at us. 

Privacy

These days it seems everybody wants your personal information so they can bombard you with marketing material and sell your information to other companies for more advanced marketing carpet bombing. We do not like this and we do not do this to you. Any information you give us stays in our private files - period. And if, after the inspection is complete and the report is sent, you never want to hear from us again, just tell us. We will be sad, but we will still like you. 

Confidentiality

Since you paid for the inspection and the report, we will only send the report to you, the client. We will not send it to anybody else without your express permission - no matter how much anybody tries to bribe us with booze or candy. 

Intellectual Property

The web site and its original content, features, and functionality are owned by TLC Professional Inspections, Inc., and are protected by international copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, and other intellectual property or proprietary rights laws. In other words, please do not steal anything from our website. We do not like people ripping off our hard work. Neither do our lawyers.

Home Inspection Report Delivery

The completed home inspection report will be sent to you in PDF format by email. Usually the report is provided within 24 hours of completion of the inspection. If due to certain circumstances it takes longer, we will notify you. If you need the report immediately, let us know. If our schedule and workload allows, we will try to accommodate you. If booze or candy are at stake, we will try harder. We will send you the home inspection report provided the following is true:

• You have signed the home inspection agreement.
• You have provided payment for the inspection. 
• You do not have any outstanding payments for previous home inspections.
• You have provided an email address for us to send the report to. 

Cancellation

Sometimes things just don't go your way and you have to cancel an inspection you scheduled. We understand - that's life. All we ask is that you notify us as soon as possible, preferably at least 24 hours in advance. This allows us to adjust our plans and schedule other work for the time slot you originally reserved. If you cancel at the last minute, we end up sitting around with nothing to do. That usually only leads to mischief. 

Of course, turnabout is fair play. We promise that we will notify you as soon as humanly possible in the unlikely scenario that our friendly inspectors cannot make it to the inspection, e.g due to sudden illness, car trouble, inclement weather conditions, and so on. 

Trip Charge

Since you have read, and are abiding by, these incredibly reasonable and well written terms and conditions, this will probably never happen to you. But we will mention it anyway. If our friendly inspectors show up at a property for an inspection that you scheduled with us, but they are unable to perform the inspection due to unexpected circumstances, such as the following examples:

• Nobody is there to let us in 
• The utilities are not turned on
• Something at or in the property poses a safety hazard that prevents us from safely performing the inspection
• You cancel the inspection while we are already at the property
• You canceled the inspection but forgot to tell us

We will not charge you the full inspection fee that we are missing out on. However, we will charge you a $75 trip charge to at least cover the time spent traveling to and from the property as well as gas. 

Right of Refusal

We are looking forward to working with you and we will try our best to turn you into a happy and satisfied customer who cannot wait to call us again for the next home inspection. However, we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone. Reasons for that could include, but are not limited to:

• Something at the property poses a danger to our inspectors
• We have reason to suspect illegal or criminal activity
• We have reason to believe that there are circumstances violating our code of ethics
• You have previously repeatedly violated these terms
• You are just plain mean to our poor inspectors who don't deserve the abuse