I read an interesting piece of news the other day. It seems that our politicians are getting reports of shady home building practices from around the state concerning contractors not following the codes that have been established in the industry. The politicians are beginning to pass laws to punish contractors for overlooking structural and safety issues. Home inspectors have tried to protect the public for over 30 years. Our warnings to buyers and sellers may have not been taken seriously. This may be part of the problem. some buyers are willing to purchase a home with defects and then pass them on to an unsuspecting new buyer. It is always best to purchase a home after the defects have been repaired. Repairing the defects prior to occupancy is far better than possibly paying thousands of dollars to fix issues later when selling the property. There will be things that need to be fixed over the life of a home, but it is never safe to live in a home that had major problems that were never properly repaired in the first place. If the home is referred to as a "fixer upper," it is most likely that there could be major concerns that need to be addressed.