This almost became a “dog ate my homework” tale, and it some ways, it still kind of is. I set out, at the suggestion of a source in the real estate industry, to write a column about the dangers real estate agents may face when going into foreclosure-prone areas where crime is high and tempers are even higher over being evicted from one’s domicile. The potential exists to lead to something more than a few harsh expletives.
I spoke with a few agents offhandedly over the issue and was told stories, first-hand as well as second- and third-hand, of threats incurred by agents while talking to tenants—at knifepoint and at gunpoint. “I carry mace,” was a remark made by one agent. “I’m in and out as fast as I can, and I never stray far away from my car,” another agent told me. Both talked about threats, and mentioned others who had bone-chillingly close calls.
It was the stuff of a good story, and one that, I believed, would be of service to the general reader and agents alike. But when I started making serious inquiries, my repeated e-mails and calls to sources—people who I have known over the years to be eager to do an interview—went unanswered. The agents I had spoken with before I began efforts to get interviews for this story shied away from going on record.
It could be sensitivity over agents killed recently while showing properties in questionable situations. The reluctance could also be due to the negative association with asking people to leave their homes. Whatever the case, it turns out that few in the industry are interested in directly commenting on the issue, and who can really blame them. More negative news is not what the market needs.
Whatever the case, the issue is real, and the good news is that many real estate firms and associations are acting progressively to protect agents.
“This happens every six, seven, eight, nine years,” says Steve Goddard, the California Association of Realtors president-elect. Goddard is referring to the cycle in which a large number of foreclosures get put out onto the market, and the market veteran advises to be diligent about safety at all times, especially when going into foreclosure-prone areas.
“I have been into a lot of high-foreclosure areas, lately,” says Goddard, who sells properties that were donated to the Salvation Army. “Some of the properties that got donated to them are a little bit more extreme areas,” he adds. Goddard’s tactic while going into a rugged area is to arrive and leave the area early. “Bad guys usually don’t get up and play at 6 a.m. in the morning,” he says, adding that he likes to plan his trips to such areas from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.
Goddard’s advice to Realtors: “If you’re concerned about where you’re going, take a manager along with you so you have two people there.” Additionally, when agents get to a destination, get out of your car and take a look around. “Don’t just jump in there,” he adds. “Realtors just need to be alert, and usually they are.”
Denise Tillman, an office manger with Keller Williams Realty in Los Alamitos, which does a great deal of business in and around Long Beach, says her firm has established procedures to assist any agent who feels uncomfortable with a client or in a potentially dangerous situation. “They can call and give us a code word,” says Tillman. After calling the office, the agent will be able to then answer to two options, and either have the person on the other end of the line to simply note their time and location, or in a more severe situation they can have that person place a call to the authorities for assistance on their behalf.
It was after an agent was killed a few months ago while showing a home in Westchester that prompted Keller Williams Los Alamitos to establish the system as a safeguard for agents, she says. “After that we just felt the need to make sure our agents were safe out there,” she adds.
“More agents are going into high-foreclosure areas,” she says “That’s just the way our market is right now. There are a lot of (real estate owned properties) out there, and there are a lot of people who, because of the economy, are stressed.”
As to why I had so much trouble getting folks on the record for this story, Goddard says it may be because agents are afraid of violating the law. “Realtors are very cautious in what they say,” he says. “They want to make sure they’re not quoted in some way that would involve equal opportunity. We don’t discriminate against anyone, and that includes discrimination against someone’s income.”