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Caution Alert: Suspicious Individual Making Contact Request 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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Fraud Alert: Vacant property used for identity and mail fraud 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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In Memoriam: William Bradley Salt
William Bradley Salt – President in 1971 Aug. 20, 1922 – March 17, 2017 William Bradley Salt, 94, of Sarasota, Florida, formerly Bexley, Ohio, died at home March 17, 2017. He was a World War II Navy veteran, who served in the Pacific theater. Brad graduated from The Ohio State University. He was a co-founder of Salt Brothers Hardware in Columbus, Ohio, and later the owner of Brad Salt Realtors in Columbus. Brad served as President of Bexley City Council and President of the Columbus Board of Realtors. After coming to Sarasota he was a co-founder and broker of Stevens and Salt Inc. He leaves behind Shirley, his high school sweetheart and wife of 72 years, their three children, Bill (Susan) Salt, Cathy (John) Forman, Terri (Dennis) Costa, nine grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his brothers: Charles, David and Thomas Salt. Funeral services will be held Thursday, March 23, 2:00, at Sarasota National Cemetery, arranged by Toale Brothers Colonial Chapel. Memorial donations may be made to Tidewell Hospice.
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Discounted Cameron Mitchell Gift Cards – Ends March 8 Cameron Mitchell gift cards remain available in $25, $50 and $100 increments. The 20% off discount will be applied to your total order. Order forms can be found HERE. Your order form can be emailed to Kelly Simmons (ksimmons@columbusrealtors.com) or faxed to (614) 337-7559. Deadline: All order forms and payment must be received by Wednesday, Mar. 8 at 5pm.
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Crime Alert: Beware of ‘Survey’ e-mail 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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Crime Alert: Bogus Caller Claiming to be Homeowner 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:
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Columbus REALTORS® Fraud Warning: Better Business Bureau warns of another type of wire fraud 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. 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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Crime Alert: Fraudulent Buyers 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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Columbus REALTORS Will Open Late Friday, January 27 – 9:30am Columbus REALTORS® will open one hour late on Friday, January 27. Doors will open at 9:30am.
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Holiday Schedule: Martin Luther King Jr. Day The Columbus REALTORS association headquarters will be closed on Monday, January 16 in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The association will open for normal business hours on Tuesday at 8:30am. Schedule:
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