State now licensing home inspectors

BELLEVUE — The next time you let a home inspector inside your house, know this: They are now licensed by the state. Effective earlier this month, July 1, all Ohio home inspectors are required to have a state license. That license ensures that they have insurance, they have passed a criminal background check by the FBI, and they have demonstrated competence in their profession, explained Todd Radloff, owner of Erie Inspection Service in Bellevue. "It kind of puts everybody in the same playing field," Radloff said. Radloff is a member of the Ohio Home Inspector Board, which regulates the new state licenses. Gov. Mike DeWine named Radloff to the board in May. Existing home inspectors were grandfathered in under the law and received licenses if they could demonstrate experience in the profession. But people new to the field seeking a license must be trained by an inspector and demonstrate expertise by carrying out a couple of inspections, Radloff said. Radloff said home inspections typically take place when people are purchasing a home and want to know if there are any major problems. It's also been a growing trend for people to have an inspection done before they put a home up for sale, he said. Ohio's home inspection licensing program was created in 2019, when Senate Bill 255 was signed into law after passing the Ohio General Assembly. Getting the licensing program set up was delayed by the pandemic, which made it hard to have the necessary public meetings. The program is run by the Department of Commerce's Division of Real Estate & Professional Licensing and supervised by the board Radloff sits on. According to the board's website, Ohio became the 34th state to regulate home inspections. Radloff and his colleagues on the board have been studying the programs in other states, trying to figure out when licenses from other states can be the basis for applying and getting a license in Ohio. Radloff, 60, a Bellevue resident, has plenty of experience in the home inspection business. After a career in construction, building and remodeling new homes, he started Erie Inspection Service in Bellevue in 1989 as a sideline. Business grew and Radloff began to hire employees. The business now has 12 employees. Radloff still does a few inspections every month, but spends much of his time training and supervising a force of seven inspectors. His wife, Julie Radloff, is the co-owner of the business. Radloff also got involved in professional organizations, serving in the Ohio chapter of the American Society of Home Inspectors. When a vacancy opened up on the Ohio Home Inspector Board, the president of the Ohio chapter of the ASHI gave the governor's office Radloff's name, and officials from DeWine's office phoned Radloff and interviewed him. They wanted to know if he thought state licenses were a good idea — he did — how long he had been in the business and whether he would be willing to censure inspectors who did not follow the law —he was. Terms on the board last for three years, but because Radloff was named to fill out the term of a board member who left, he's been appointed until April 2022. He'll find out around then whether he's been named for a full new term. Radloff gets the prestige of serving on a board in his industry, but he doesn't get any pay except for travel expenses when he needs to attend a meeting. All of his meetings until now have been held by Zoom, but he finally will travel soon to Columbus to attend a board meeting in person.