Supporters of efforts to roll-back municipal point-of-sale home inspection requirements in the Twin Cities scored another victory this week when the Crystal city council voted to repealed its point of sale inspection ordinance.
Such regulations require that at the time of listing or before a closing the city must perform an inspection on the home. The scope of those inspections varies from city to city and some cities may require that some or all of the items noted on the inspection must be repaired before the property can be sold.
Crystal enacted its point of sale inspection ordinance in January 1992.
MAAR, in partnership with the Saint Paul Area Association of Realtor, opposes these ordinances because of the "costs, duplication of efforts, limited scope, and waiver of city liability that comes with city-mandated point of sale inspections," according to a statement.
Brooklyn Park has already repealed its ordinance, but 12 cities, including Hopkins, Minneapolis and New Hope, still have some variation of such requirements. Crystal's repeal is effective on September 26, so that means any property in the city that closes after that date will not be required to obtain a city inspection.
