We have all come to learn recently of the passing of Mel Chalfen on September 12th at the age of 89. I recall an article that appeared in the May 16, 2002 issue of the International Real Estate Digest that really captured Mel's persona. I have reprinted it below.

Spend just a few minutes with Melvin Chalfen and you will realize why he was chosen to be honored with a special tribute on May 25th by the New England regional division of the American Society of Home Inspection (ASHI). At the age of 82, he has accomplished more than a lifetime of goals. He has received plaques acknowledging his efforts and dedication from ASHI, condominium, and arbitration groups and they hang neatly on his state-of-the-art office walls. But the plaque he has placed closest to his desk simply states: DAD, Building Consultant Extraordinaire.

'Extraordinaire' is just one accolade someone would use to describe Mel. As a long-standing member of the national ASHI group and a founding father of ASHI- New England, he devoted his life to teaching consumers about their homes and training inspectors to be advocates for home buyers. He helped shape an industry critical to the process of home buying and watched the business flourish as demand for home inspections grew among home buyers, real estate investors and real industry practitioners.

His long and distinguished career includes being the first Director of Education for ASHI New England, Inc., a Past President, and he has served on the National Education, Ethics and Standards Committees. He lectured for 15 years at Adult Education classes in the Boston area, teaching hundreds of consumers what to expect in the home, what to look for in the way of problems and how to hire a good inspector. And he taught a legion of home inspectors how to be advocates to protect home buyers and provide information to help them decide whether or not to buy a particular property.

During my interview with Mel, he told me that his web site was due to go 'live' any minute. Lo and behold, just after our discussion, he had his secretary, Nora, check the Internet again and there it was: www.mchalfen.com It is no surprise that Mel Chalfen, pioneer and visionary, publishes his web site at age 82. Still learning, still teaching, still going!

Mel reflects back to the early days of ASHI in the seventies and tells how he missed the very first meeting in Rutgers, New Jersey but that he attended the subsequent meetings. He still has his notes from some of the first few meetings and is proud of his early membership number in the national organization. His career as a home inspector actually began in the late 1950s when friends would ask Melvin questions about their homes, building new homes and to look over existing homes they were considering for purchase.

The ASHI- New England early meetings were of a social nature and 15-20 people would meet to talk about the then-new home inspection business. Mel knew that it would be more productive and beneficial to have speakers come in to provide specialized information and he arranged for lecturers to talk about plumbing, and painting and electrical topics. Thus began the tradition of having educational sessions to enhance the home inspectors' skills and the initial impetus for the rigorous training and testing that exists today.

College degrees in forestry and civil engineering helped Melvin understand issues pertaining to structure and strength and his work as a construction manager and building homes gave him insight in what to look for in the quality of construction. His eagerness to help out and his business acumen told him that there was a need for this kind of service for home buyers long before it was a commonly accepted idea. He is the owner of Melvin H. Chalfen, Inc. and Associates and founder and president of the P.R.O.B.E. Network (Professional Organization of Building Examiners) and is affiliated with some of the top ranking inspectors in the region.

Getting the information organized and writing up reports was one of the most difficult aspects in the days of early development, according to Melvin. He bought his first computer in 1978 and his secretary spent three months learning how to use a word processing program to create lengthy and detailed reports for home buyers. The initial reports were restricted to an "acceptable/not acceptable" ranking and have been refined over time to a much more sophisticated and useful format.

Mel believes that home inspectors are hired to observe the condition of installed systems and components of a property and to render a written report of the observations. He feels that Property Surveys are "systematic reviews of the construction process -- a series of orderly visual examinations of the readily accessible portions of the building and all of the related installed systems on the interior and exterior."

Mel tells of his work over the years an expert witness and points to a home video given to him by some home buyers who, obviously, didn't get a good home inspection. The hand printed label reads "THE HOUSE FROM HELL". The home they bought was so bad that they had it torn down. He said it had "major, major problems". It had huge cracks in the foundation, the stairs were falling apart, the floors were sloping downhill, and the windowsills were sloping. There was an inspection and an inspection report but it doesn't even mention the word 'foundation'.

Mel is a strong advocate for solid training and rigorous testing of individuals who want to work as home inspectors. He has been active in states' legislative efforts to pass new licensing and testing requirements and he recently served on the ASHI Standards of Practice Committee as they made revisions for year 2000.

Professional home inspections are now an everyday occurrence but it wasn't always that way. Interest in the property inspection process has paralleled the growth of the consumer protection movement in the last two decades. Most home buyers admit to feeling inadequate about their ability to make an accurate assessment of the condition of the home and welcome the chance to have a professional inspector perform a thorough check for them or, in the case of new construction, a punch list for the builder to make sure everything gets done before they move in.

He marvels at the changes over time. In the early days the real estate brokers called him the "deal killer" and would block the entrance to the home if they saw him coming. He mentions that he was asked to do the home inspections for one prominent broker's family and friends but apparently not recommended to buyers who were looking at the company's listings. He felt that it said something about the caliber of service he provided. He has always had strong feelings about the issue of conflict of interest in the industry and was outspoken about it. He feels that good home inspectors know that their clients are the buyers, not the REALTORS. That may be why his business was built on word of mouth among home buyers. Satisfied clients tend to share their experiences with others.

Melvin teaches home buyers that approximately 1/3 of their income goes for taxes and 1/3 for the mortgage and, if they don't carefully inspect the property, they can expect to spend 1/3 on house repairs. It is no wonder that consumers today have embraced the home inspection industry and rely on their training and expertise to protect them in the biggest investment of their lives.
Mike Atwell, Interim President