It is in the sole discretion of the buyer to cancel based on the inspection under a 35A, and the inspector does not need to be licensed or a professional inspector. So a friend who is “knowledgeable” can just come and say “don’t buy this piece of junk” and the buyer can submit the 35AR cancelling the agreement without noting why. Sometimes they see something outside of the property, like a crack house three doors down or a dog barking constantly next door, and cancel for that reason within the inspection timeframe.

If a seller wants an inspection done where he has more control, he might say “Inspection Clause 35B to be used” in the Agent Remarks section of the mls. That gives him an opportunity to repair items in the report, instead of the buyer having the unilateral right to cancel based on pure “buyer satisfaction”.

It is customary, if the buyer wants the seller to fix something, to give the seller that portion of the inspection that identifies the problem. But if the buyer is just walking away from the transaction, the inspection is rarely given to the seller.

That’s my take on it. The only place where the forms require “proof” of any kind, is if the second inspection clause is invoked, as that must be called for by the first inspector. It gives the buyer 5 additional days tacked on to the original timeframe to respond to all items, not just the item to be re-inspected.

I was at a home inspection today and remembered your request for an octopus system – pics are here.

And it’s (hopefully) unlikely that you’d get stiffed by someone who will still be a neighbor.