Deceptive buyers with a pattern of writing then terminating contracts without merit.

Velva Dunn, RE/MAX Top Producers, and Helen Conway, Keller Williams Consultants, wanted to make colleagues aware of fraudulent buyers Lizbeth and Geoffrey Turner who have contacted several different agents to view homes, present purchase contracts and then use excuses without merit to terminate the contract while firing the agents who represented them. To-date, they have terminated four contracts. The wife (Lizbeth) is very hostile and displays unpredictable behavior towards the agents, sellers, lenders and inspectors. In fact, Velva’s seller is now scared of her and fears this person as an unhealthy overly aggressive/hostile and unpredictable individual who might come back to her home unannounced and possibly harm her. These buyers who claim to reside in southern Delaware may attend open houses in Delaware and Lewis Center.

For this notice and more, click http://www.columbusrealtors.com/alerts/default.aspx

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05/01/2017

Saxton Real Estate reported today that they’ve had two instances where someone has called the office claiming to be a out of state agent wanting to see listed property. In these cases, the callers used license numbers and phone numbers for legitimate out of state agents. They were seeking the codes to access HUD homes on combination lockboxes. Please be careful when dealing with any callers seeking access to homes. An extra phone call for verification may be inconvenient, but will help you protect yourself and the property.

https://new.columbusrealtors.com/alerts/default.aspx

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04/05/2017

Louise Potter,  HER, Realtors®, reported that over 40 HER associates, mostly female, have received a Contact Request on their websites from someone by the name of Ian Barr, barr.i@yahoo.com, who is asking to “talk” with a REALTOR®. The same message has been left in each instance, “I saw your profile on the HER Realtor site. I’d like to schedule time for us to talk. Please reply to this email if you are interested.” The phone number googles to a person by a different name in TN. So, not sure if this is a vendor or just a creep, but HER’s Customer Care department has alerted their associates and wanted to give other REALTORS® the heads up about this suspicious individual.

For this notice and more, click http://www.columbusrealtors.com/alerts/default.aspx

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03/28/2017

Larry Stewart, RE/MAX Connections, reported that he had received a call from a lady in Westerville who had received a post office notification that her change of address request to 646 Elizabeth Street (a vacant property listed by Larry) had went through. She did not make this request, found out that Larry had the property listed and called him. Larry went to the property to check the mailbox and found two credit cards for two different ladies (the lady who initially called him and a lady who lived in Clintonville) with $25,000 lines of credit and $5,000 – $6,000 available cash. Both pieces of mail had the same markings on the envelopes and both ladies have filed reports with the post office and police. It takes 10 to 14 days to reverse a change of address, so Larry took the mailbox off the house to immediately stop any additional fraudulent mail being left at this property. He asked that we make agents aware of this criminal activity and if it happens at one of their vacant properties, they should immediately make the mailbox inoperable.

For this notice and more, click http://www.columbusrealtors.com/alerts/default.aspx

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03/27/2017

From Columbus REALTOR® Crime Alerts:

A number of real estate licensees notified the Ohio Division of Real Estate & Professional Licensing about receiving an e-mail with the subject line “Real Estate Coaching Survey for OH lic.” encouraging participation in an online survey. Please be aware that the survey e-mail is not coming from — nor is it being conducted — by the Division. The e-mail is identified as being sent by “Survey Club.” More info http://ohiorealtors.org/2017/02/21/division-made-aware-of-misleading-email-being-received-by-real-estate-licensees/

This, plus other alerts can be found by following this link:

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02/22/2017

Debbie Garrison with Century 21 Excellence Realty reported that a cleaning company had contacted her to let her know that someone claiming to be the owner of one of her listings (in Groveport) had requested a meeting with the cleaning company to get an estimate on cleaning the property. The cleaning company was suspicious of the caller and contacted Debbie to see if the request was legitimate, and it wasn’t. The homeowner had not contacted the cleaning company and mentioned to Debbie that someone had tried to get in to her home and when she opened the door was told that they thought the property was vacant. A police report has been filed. Just want REALTORS® to be on the lookout for what could be potential criminal intent.

Click the link below to see all recent alerts:
https://new.columbusrealtors.com/alerts/default.aspx

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02/17/2017

Your BBB wants local businesses to beware of a new twist on a wire transfer scam that has popped up in neighboring states and could be headed toward Central Ohio. So far, landscaping, electrical and tree service contractors have been contacted in neighboring states.

Here are the reports BBB has received: A “customer” calls a landscaping, electrical or tree service contracting business claiming to be an out-of-state client who owns a local property. The “customer” offers to pay upfront with a credit card, but explains that another contractor for a different type of work has also been at the property but could not accept credit cards, so they were unable to pay them. They offer to pay you the amount for your work with some extra money, asking for you to pay the other contractor for them by wiring the money to them.

After processing the full amount on the card and wiring the money, businesses were contacted by the credit card company stating that the card was stolen and the charges were reversed, leaving the businesses out the wired money. Other businesses found that the card number was declined. The “customer” responded by asking them to try other credit card numbers they had on hand that were also most likely stolen.
BBB tips for avoiding this scam:
Be wary of anyone who is willing to pay you extra money, especially if they ask for you to wire money back to them or to a third-party. Receiving checks or other methods of over-payment is most likely a scam.

Do not be afraid to ask questions. If an out-of-town client who is not willing to meet you in person seems suspicious, they most likely are. Meeting the client beforehand face-to-face and doing a walk-through of the work that needs to be done is a good way to build trust on both ends.

Trust your gut in high pressure situations. It can be tempting to take a credit card upfront if someone is willing, but ask yourself “Why the rush?”, especially with a contracting job. A business’s comfort level is just as important as the consumer’s.

Talk it over. If a job seems strange, like a client asking you to pay one of their other contractors, talk it over with your colleagues or call your BBB at 614-486-6336 for assistance.

Business owners and consumers can visit BBB Scam Tracker to see which scams are near you.

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02/10/2017

Two separate member brokerages (involving a total of four affected agents) have reported that a couple, Amber Taylor and Colton MacGregor, currently residing in Somerset, Ohio, looking at homes in the $300,000 to $600,000 price range, had written fraudulent contracts on two different properties (one in Athens and the other in Hocking County). Once in contract, the buyer’s produced fictitious proof of funds in the form of a fake e-mail posing as a Merrill Lynch Financial Advisor. When the agents were unable get in contact with anyone listed in the initial e-mail to verify funds, the prospective buyers apologized and said they sent the wrong contact info and sent new Merrill Lynch info. After contacting the second Merrill Lynch rep, they had no knowledge of the clients or the financial advisor that was listed in the second e-mail. These individuals sell a story about the male having only months to live and are spending his retirement money for a home to pass away in peace. They are clever at establishing trust with the agents. In the first fraudulent instance, the prospective buyers had several conversations with the sellers about purchasing items in the home at closing. They even convinced one of the sellers to allow them to take a few antiques, prior to closing, without paying, of which they did. These fraudulent buyers do not have funds to purchase a home.

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02/02/2017

From Columbus REALTORS®

Tricia Segnini with A-List Realty reported that after her closing on 1/9/17, she received an e-mail appearing to come from her broker (but did not) stating that she needed to transfer funds. Her closing wasn’t mentioned specifically in the e-mail, but she felt it may be what triggered the bogus e-mail, which did list her broker’s name and his correct e-mail address along with a fake e-mail address ceomailme@mail.com. Tricia wanted to make colleagues aware of this scam. Please report wire fraud complaints to the FBI at www.ic3.gov.

This report and more details can be found here

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01/11/2017

Columbus Realtors’ offices will close at 4PM on Friday, December 30. CR offices will open for normal business hours on Tuesday, Jan 3rd, 2017

Schedule:
Friday, December 30, 2016 – Closed at 4:00pm
Tuesday, January 3, 2017- Open at 8:30am

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12/30/2016