A Phoenix-area home inspector is under fire from a construction company because it doesn’t like his posts. Cy Porter has built a reputation in Phoenix and online as a jovial no-bullshit home inspector who calls out companies that do a crappy job building new houses.
Taylor Morrison, a homebuilder that operates across the U.S. and takes in $6 billion a year, wants him to stop posting. As first reported by a local FOX news affiliate in Phoenix, Arizona, the construction company has reported Porter to the Arizona Board of Technical Registration—an agency that regulates home inspectors. The complaint calls Porter a bully and asks the board to make him stop posting.
A typical Porter video is under a minute long and contains the kind of thing that keeps homeowners up at night. In one video he pushes against a brick wall in a backyard only for it to appear to give away, in another he uses a level at the edge of a shower and watches as water pools instead of drains because tile seemingly wasn’t installed properly. His TikTok, YouTube shorts, and Instagram reels are a sea of broken roof tiles, unjoined trusses, and dangerous electric wiring.
The brutal honesty and rapid-fire delivery of Porter’s videos have earned him a significant social media following. He’s got more than 200,000 subscribers on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. His most popular video on TikTok has been viewed more than 4 million times. What’s so galling is that most of these homes are new construction.
Porter plays fast and loose with identifying which construction companies are to blame. “Now I can’t tell you who the builder is,” he often says in a video as he walks in front of a sign that explicitly states who the builder is. His antics have earned him the wrath of many, and some of his videos include confrontations with builders.
Porter told FOX 10 that he learned of the complaint against him when he received a note from the board that they were investigating him. “It is alleged that Respondent consistently uses misrepresentation, fear-mongering, concealment of material facts, deceit, cyber-bullying of individuals, and shock value as a method to convince new homeowners they need his services,” a portion of the complaint aired on FOX 10 said. “It is also alleged that Respondent publicly refers to female professionals in derogatory sexualized terms in violation of [American Society of Home Inspectors] Standards requiring that home inspectors conduct their services with professionalism and integrity toward the public.”
Porter did not return Gizmodo’s request for comment.
Taylor Morrison’s request of the board is simple: it wants Porter to stop posting and pull down his old videos. “Taylor Morrison would like Cyril Porter, on behalf of himself and his companies, to stop posting any videos to social media about Taylor Morrison,” the letter said.
Taylor Morrison told the Phoenix-area FOX station: “While we have no issue with the home inspections Cy Porter conducts, we do believe his advertising through sensationalist social media postings violates the professional conduct standards set forth by the Board of Technical Registration, which licenses and regulates home inspectors, and we trust the board to review and make an assessment.”
Reached for comment by Gizmodo, Taylor Morrison emphasized its commitment to quality and care. “Taylor Morrison has a longstanding policy of welcoming homeowners the opportunity to use a third-party inspector prior to closing on their home for added peace of mind and transparency. We expect all home inspectors to be licensed and comply with standards of professional conduct and integrity,” a Taylor Morrison spokesperson said in an email.
Porter told FOX 10 that he’s so popular that he’s booked for the next 14 months and that he has no plans to stop posting.
Update 7/11/24 at 2:40pm: This story has been updated to include comments from Taylor Morrison.
