I challenge NAR to come up with rules and regulations that REQUIRE every Realtor® to go through an ID verification process before meeting a prospect at a property. Only when ALL AGENTS are forced to do this will it become industry standard. If only women agents require ID verification for prospects, women will be discriminated against and at a competitive disadvantage. Any agent who tries this on their own will be at a competitive disadvantage, so we must do it collectively. ...I suggest that each agency be required to establish office policy and go on record with their Association Executive. Failure to follow that policy would be an ethics violation.
RATIONALE FROM THE REALTOR® POINT OF VIEW: Agent safety is foremost. Agents who do not "play by the rules" jeopardize the profession as a whole and gain unfair advantage.
RATIONALE FROM THE PUBLIC POINT OF VIEW: A property that is the site of a crime (property or against a person) may become stigmatized. Properties are put at risk when being made available to unqualified an/or unidentified visitors. Agents should take appropriate precaution to decrease the likelihood of crimes against the property and against people.
Acceptable office policies must include identification of prospects. Meeting at the office is not always practical, especially for virtual offices, so methods of internet and phone verification must be established.
Steps could include asking for full name, cell phone number, home address, faxed/emailed prequalification letter from a lender, photo ID emailed/faxed, car license and description. During the initial contact, the agent should simply state that all visitors to the property are required to go through an ID process. Within a matter of weeks, it will become public knowledge that measures are in place.
Agents should take cell phone photo of the prospect's car license plate before exiting his/her car, geotag and upload photo; then take photo of the prospect's photo ID, geotag and upload that photo; then unlock the property. I have actually taken cell phone photos of license plates before getting out of my car. One prospect was so mad at my "invasion of his privacy" that he threatened to leave. I told him that was OK, but I was following office policy (that was a lie) and then asked to see his driver's license. He complied. I showed the property and then never heard from him again. Either he was not qualified to buy or he found a more "cooperative" agent.
These are only examples of possible policies, but every phone and internet contact should expect to go through some sort of ID process. The process actually should be different from company to company and maybe even from agent to agent. As an industry, we need to make changes happen.
NAR needs to do more than "suggest" policies and provide education. It's time to take action! Let's call it the Beverly Carter Initiative. What better way to honor her than to learn from this tragedy?
Think-Act-Be
Comments(19)