It doesn't seem to have been posted here yet so I thought I better let the Active Rain community know that a REALTOR® in Victoria, BC, Canada was killed showing a home this past Saturday afternoon.
It appears she had two called about showing this house. The first from a women and the second from a man and she felt strange about the whole thing. No details have been released by police yet, but the house was a newly constructed, unoccupied home. News report here and more up to date here.
We should all be VERYcareful! There is a Personal Safety Guide that the Canadian Real Estate Association (NAR for Canadians) make available to us, but is actually a NAR product. Anyway, I have uploaded it to my website so you don't have to go looking for it. You can find it right here. Lots of other safety iinformation can me found on REALTOR.org, just search for "safety".
The report starts to with 3 of the most important tips:
- Identify the person you are working with before you join him/her alone, in a car or a house. Copy his/her driver's license!
- Always carry your cell phone, program 911 into speed dial, and don't hesitate to call for help.
- Trust your instincts. Please, please trust your instincts. No commission is worth putting yourself at risk.
Its when you first start working with a new client that we can do the most to protect ourselves and the report lays out what to do:
WHEN YOU HAVE NEW CLIENTS:
Meet them in the office
Verify his/her identity
Get their car make and license number
Photocopy their driver's license
Complete the Client I.D. Form
ASK PROSPECT TO STOP BY YOUR OFFICE
and complete the personal identification form before going to a property. This should be openly obtained, preferably in the presence of an associate.
VERIFY THEIR IDENTITY
This may entail calling references, his/her place of employment and verifying his/her current address. Iinformation should be retained at your office; knowing that a name and address are known may discourage
an assailant.
GET THEIR CAR MAKE AND LICENSE NUMBER
It's easy to do, and it will assist police in catching a criminal or finding you if you are abducted. If the car is stolen, your prospect will be reluctant to give you a license number.
INTRODUCE THE PROSPECT TO SOMEONE IN YOUR OFFICE
A would-be assailant does not like to be noticed or receive exposure
knowing a person could pick him out of a police lineup.
PHOTOCOPY OR SCAN THEIR DRIVER'S LICENSE
Legitimate clients do not mind you copying their driver's license. We freely show our license to the clerk at the grocery store when we write a check and we show our i.d. to rent a movie. We can expect identification from our client before we show a home worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
This is a terrible terrible event and has quite shaken the BC real estate community. Be safe out lthere adies and gentleman.
Comments(8)