Considering all the news items in both the paper and the television about thieves stealing copper plumbing pipes and copper electrical wire, I figured it would just be a matter of time before it affected me.

Today I was out with a property investor all prepared to do an inspection on a house in a neighborhood where lots of military personnel rent homes. The house was a foreclosure and San Diego Gas & Electric had locked the meter, most likely due to non-payment. Obviously not having any electricity means that I would have to disclaim a good one-third of my inspection.

Skipping over all the electrical stuff, I moved on to the plumbing. No water at the kitchen sink. A quick trip to the bathroom, and no water there either. We walked out front and saw that the secondary shutoff valve was off, so my Client casually turned it on. We heard the water flowing, and it was, indeed, flowing, but we didn't know where since there still was no water in the kitchen and bathroom. A quick look into the foundation revealed a sideways Old Faithful geyser. My Client quickly turned the water off and the two of us went into the foundation, only to find that all the copper plumbing had been taken. While we were under there, though, we also saw that all the wiring had been cut everywhere. Obviously they had taken all the copper wire that they could get.

I switched my service level from a STANDARD inspection to CONSULTING since two-thirds of the inspection could not be done. In addition to inspecting the foundation, I inspected the roof and the attic, spending an hour at the property and charging my Client a mere $100 for CONSULTING. He was very appreciative of my fair-play attitude, and I think I have a long-term property investing Client.

I understand that bad times happen, but outright theft and destruction is not the answer.