The NAHI Debacle Could Have Been Avoided

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 01/27/2017 01:50 AM EST

NAHI had some great people- several board members have been clients and friends of mine for many years and even the Director, Claude, prior to joining NAHI ran a great home inspection company and utilized Inspector Services Group products and services.

I'll never forget the first annual NAHI event in Florida after Claude came on board for two reasons:

1. When Claude did an opening speech there, he held his cell phone up in the air and said "everyone pull your phones out...and turn them on! If you get a call it could be an inspection order so just step out in the hallway and take it." I remember thinking this guy cares about the members and he did.

2. One piece of bacon pinched a nerve up the side of my face and I discovered my occasional lockjaw...and for about 20 minutes thereafter I was considering going to the hospital. Not good for someone who talks for a living.

NAHI was never the biggest and never claimed to be. It was almost a club- and everyone was on a first name basis. It wasn't an endless ocean of Inspectors in the 10's of thousands and there were no Endless Board meetings either. It was quaint, and we always did well at their shows where there was most certainly a culture of openness and inclusion.

Of course it is no secret that Nick Gromicko of InterNACHI was not a big fan- previous court battles and bombs thrown back and forth ultimately became the catalyst for changing "NACHI" to "InterNACHI". Many years had gone by and it seemed this was all behind us. NAHI was small and seemed to be comfortable in their own skin while Nick seemed to forget the whole thing-- in his own way.

Then one day I got a call from a couple of Board members. NAHI was looking for some advice on growth and they wanted to bring me in to consult. I told them I would be happy to, which I would of course do without fees or even expenses paid. They took it to the Board, and by some slim margin (I'm guessing by 1) the board declined any such help. I gave the Board members that reached out to me a few pieces of advice and thanked them for the opportunity. I don't know names or who voted what, but I remember thinking that whoever that tie-breaking "no" came from had to be pretty dense. The only guy in the industry to ever sell as much and in most areas more to inspectors than Nick Gromicko is ready to give you free advice and you say no? Oh well, their loss.

A few months later, I got a call from the same Board members. They tried all they could, but NAHI was no longer self sustaining and they had secured members a free membership in ASHI.

I didn't think much of it at first.

Then I got word from some ASHI Board members that they were long debating whether or not NAHI members would be "Certified" ASHI members, and I had my first inkling of concern. Now I was seeing a picture that wasn't pretty- you were NAHI Certified and now you're an associate member of an association you specifically didn't join for whatever reason they may have had.

Still, I didn't think much of it. Felt bad for those involved of course.

Then the email went out from ASHI welcoming NAHI members to their free membership. Then the NAHI site was changed to reflect the same. Within a few hours, all hell broke loose when my phone rang and it was Nick...and he was out for blood.

He made a great case to me on the phone-- NAHI didn't have the right to release their members to ASHI and ASHI had no right to receive such members. They should have been on the open market, at which point a percentage of them may have chosen InterNACHI as their new home. Instead, they were given no choice in the matter. They were signed up for ASHI as associate members with the option to call in and cancel that membership if they chose to.

Nick was having the legal filings drawn up and I asked him what would make this go away. I told him he could simply give all the NAHI guys free memberships too, the list of members was right there online anyhow. What else did he want?

His answer: Their website. http://www.NAHI.org

The following 24 hours I made multiple attempts to make that happen, to no avail.

Now ASHI is tied up in the lawsuit he had written up that day, with no happy ending in sight. I'm not even sure if it is being taken seriously, but the case seems to me to have merit.

Since NAHI missed the boat on avoiding this not once but twice with my counsel, I'll give an easy way out to ASHI who now has the potential for damages being levied since they stepped in later:

Give Nick NAHI.org and send every NAHI member an opt-in email.

It's a really simple couple of things, but if you do it Nick will very likely let ASHI out of the thing and it will cost you nothing.

But hey, why listen to the only guy that seems to battle on the same level with the Gromicko boys?

PS. Ladder safety device coming soon! Going to production this week and coming to a hardware store near you and InspectorSHOP

How much?

They're going to risk 3 mil over a website. Aren't they almost in the same boat as ASHI. They're almost done and they want this to be the coup de grace?

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 01/28/2017 01:12 AM EST

Juan Jimenez wrote:They're going to risk 3 mil over a website. Aren't they almost in the same boat as ASHI. They're almost done and they want this to be the coup de grace?

At this point it is in ASHI's hands and I fear ASHI is at risk of a substantial hit here.

I've given them very specific instructions above:

1. Let the website from last decade's blood feud go to Nick.
2. Offer all NAHI members free memberships if you want, but don't auto enroll.

I am about 1000% certain that if both of the above were done that the lawsuits would be brought to an abrupt end. Nick may be passionate and in some eyes crazy but he often knows when he has gone too far. Kicking ASHI while they're already down and have given him what he wanted would be tasteless and tacky.

Well I hope they fight him, and lose and then we can be done with them.

Juan Jimenez wrote:Well I hope they fight him, and lose and then we can be done with them.

I know Nick feels the same-- he makes one good point about associations and industries that there is usually one almost everywhere you look. On the flip side, most non for-profits run more with a board's guidance than one guy really calling the shots (which there are definitely pitfalls in).

From my perspective, ASHI has been incredibly good at the ground game with chapters everywhere and well attended events. It's good for Inspectors and vendors myself alike.

So I'm torn- all I know is if the outcome is a single association whichever it may be, it should not be the result of a fumbled legal issue, it should be the Will of participants in the industry.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 02/01/2017 08:42 AM EST

Nathan wrote:
So I'm torn- all I know is if the outcome is a single association whichever it may be, it should not be the result of a fumbled legal issue, it should be the Will of participants in the industry.

It can be both. The will of the participants is known. ASHI is going down. The legal issue would only be an accelerator.

I think it would hurt InterNACHI to win that way or even accelerate their position, and I believe it will go away before Nick drains their bank accounts with legal fees- I've played things the same way with Kevin/HON/Warranty Management. Yes, they're in the wrong legally, yes they're bad for the inspection industry, yes their services are literally illegal in the U.S. ...but if I actually played hardball and just put them into bankruptcy via a lawsuit would that make me look good? Absolutely not! We have to kill them by 1,000 cuts. Anyone they try to sell- we offer an undeniably better deal to. Any marketing they do- we spend 10 times the effort and launch it for our guys for free. Any amount they pay on services like DirecTV- we pay 20% higher. And while we don't want to get an inspector in trouble ever we just collect data and report it when it comes to states coming out officially against their unlawful model- already New York, Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, and Wisconsin have done so.

Worse yet, the few dozen inspectors that have been tricked into WM/HON/Etc. via an "investment" or "ownership" or just brought into the Nathan Therapy Group (NTG for short), they won't ever be convinced of the real good intentions I have if I simply squash a cockroach. I have to rise above, do better, eventually people see the cockroach as a problem.

Obviously I'm trying to spare ASHI some serious grief here and that should be taken for what it is- I'm neutral and see incredible benefits and people in both groups. Friends and clients by the thousands in both directions. If ultimately one is to prevail, it can't be Hiroshima.

The Nathan Therapy Group (Hmmm).

This just provided by Scott Patterson:

This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 02/03/2017 07:23 PM EST

ASHI lies. ASHI already lost, twice:

The judge denied their motion to enter a defense: https://www.nachi.org/documents2012/InterNACHI-vs-NAHI-ASHI-motion-denied.pdf

Then the judge denied their motion to set aside our judgment: https://www.nachi.org/documents2012/ASHI-loses-to-InterNACHI-again-2017.pdf

ASHI is a two-time loser and essentially a "walking dead" association: http://www.joinhomeinspectionassociation.com

Posted on ASHI's website now:

http://www.homeinspector.org/HomeInspectionNews/ashi-defends-itself-in-court.2-3-2017.1591/Details/Story

Well Nick you saw my original post on this topic and didn't disagree. I hope all turns out well.

ASHI is fixing to be 1 member short.

Wow I didn't expect to see Nick here

Juan Jimenez wrote:Wow I didn't expect to see Nick here

It's an open forum. ASHI Board members and staff members are here too- we see their IP addresses. They're just not posting (at least not yet).