On 3/18/2012 9:09 PM, Ignoramus32296 wrote:
....

So, the question is, as a seller of a used lift, what is my "duty of
care", that is, what am I legally required to do to ensure buyer
safety. I do not believe that I am required to perform an inspection,
since I am not equipped with tools or knowledge to do so.

I am, certainly, required to 1) disclose all known defects and,
possibly, 2) to warn the buyer to conduct a safety inspection prior to
using this scissor lift.

As an individual I don't believe there's a legal obligation other than
that of any individual in trade (essentially your last points). As a
business entity is where, as noted before, I'm not so certain. Again as
stated before, it was certainly strongly implied to me before that
before the manlift I bought could be sold in IL it had to have a current
certification. Now, it's quite possible that that is/was either:

a) A corporate policy of the particular broker/dealer (essentially a CYA
position),

b) A requirement that is only applicable to recognized dealers of
personnel lifting equipment and their ilk, or

c) Simply a misunderstanding and there really is no requirement.

I'd be quite certain that the argument in the first paragraph above
would not fly if there really is a requirement--the requirement would be
such that it would be the responsibility to see it got done, not _who_,
specifically, did it. If it required an outside vendor to supply the
surface wouldn't relieve the burden of not meeting the requirement.

I'd be in the position of trying to ascertain which case is actually
applicable or whether the disclaimer is actually sufficient; it's one of
those things that I'm personally somewhat anal about in trying to ensure
that I don't have a liability that is potentially quite large looming.
For example, I've had many requests about using the manlift but have
adamantly refused other than to volunteer to do some work with it myself
for various non-profits, etc., in town. But loan/rent it out? Not
gonna' happen.

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