San Anselmo moves toward ending home inspection program

San Anselmo is a step closer to repealing an ordinance that requires home sellers give buyers a detailed report by town inspectors.

The Town Council took up the issue on Tuesday as part of an ongoing effort to streamline the permit process. Code enforcement officer Bill Johnson, a former real estate agent, defended the inspections as necessary so buyers are not surprised by safety issues, repair needs, code violations and permit requirements.

But real estate agents said the town program duplicates other inspections, burdens buyers and delays closings. The town “processes approximately 140 resale reports annually,” a staff report said. The fee was raised recently from $400 to more than $1,000.

“I have so many comments related to this program being cumbersome, expensive and overreaching,” said property agent Chris Backer. “These inspections evoke emotions and they create huge strain on so many stakeholders.”

“It’s a broken permitting culture that we’re affected by, and sellers are forced, at the last minute, to get up to code,” said agent Jenn Pfeiffer. “They’re trying to move. They’ve been relocated. They’re going into assisted living. They died.”

“And all of a sudden, just to sell the property, they have to make these upgrades when the buyer knows full well what they’re getting into,” she said. “They have inspections.”

The council took no vote, but the majority directed staff to return with draft language repealing the ordinance.

“What I’m hearing is there’s a majority here that would like to repeal the program,” said Mayor Steve Burdo.

The program has been in place since 1969. Five other Marin municipalities — Ross, Tiburon, Fairfax, San Rafael and Belvedere — have similar inspection programs, the staff report said. The process can take up to four weeks, depending on location. Fees range from $250 to $1,260.

“San Anselmo’s program is the most comprehensive, as it includes reconciliation of town records to existing site conditions as well as review of planning and public works records,” the report said.

Four other Marin municipalities — Corte Madera, Larkspur, Mill Valley and Sausalito — offer file-only reviews that costing $130 to $600 and take one day to two weeks. Marin County has never had a resale inspection program. Novato ended its program in 2022 because of the burden on sellers and the city, the staff report said.

Town officials summarized the program and presented three options to the council: keep the program; scale it back to a file-only review; or end it.

“I look at it from the standpoint, if I were buying the property, what would I want to know?” Johnson said. “We don’t go looking for small stuff. I’m looking for things that are actually life safety issues.”

“And one of the biggest things it gives is, the buyer will know is what the town is going to require,” he said, “as opposed to getting their information from a disclosure statement from a seller that there was work done without a permit. They will actually have it laid out for them.”

Johnson said home buyers often are pressured to come to terms with sellers before they know what they are getting into — a contention that drew loud denials from the audience.

“There’s a couple of different ways of looking at this,” said Heidi Scoble, the community development director. “We look at it as consumer protection.”

“Real estate agents have their paperwork and disclosures. We have our information,” she said. “That might be something that may not occur or show up in the real estate documentation.”

During the council discussion, there was wide agreement that the fee is unreasonably high. But the larger question was whether the program is necessary, or burdensome and duplicative.

“I don’t really care what other cities do,” said Councilmember Eileen Burke, who favored keeping the program but cutting its fee. “When we’re talking about consumer safety and protecting buyers and our housing stock, that’s staff time well spent.”

“I’d like us to look at the complexity of the report, keeping public safety in mind,” said Vice Mayor Chantel Walker. “I stand at keeping it at reduced cost and a faster timeline.”

“I wonder at the real value that we are delivering,” said Councilmember Yoav Schlesinger. “We already have laws that require sellers to disclose known and permitted work and material feedback.”

“That obligation exists regardless of whether or not we have a resale inspection program, right?” he said. “I’m not sure we need to keep it.”

“I agree,” said Councilmember Tarrell Kullaway. “The only time I’ve ever had to do this was here in San Anselmo, and it was very, I thought, redundant.”

Burdo said 90% of California cities and towns do not have a resale inspection program.

“The theoretical value is that we are protecting the consumer, protecting the buyer, but what we are protecting them against, to me, it seems is a lot of projected malfeasance,” he said. “The seller can be sued in perpetuity. The inspector can be sued based on omissions or errors within their report.”

“I’m having trouble seeing the value here,” he said. “My starting point would be to remove the program.”