Adam Brett's Blog - All Things Real Estate in Fullerton and Beyond

You'll get a fine in the Tampa Bay area if you place the lockbox combination code in the remarks section.

Great heads up though.  THey always find new ways to scam people.

That's just incredible...and a great shame. I'd hate to think of how that person feels when they find out they've been scammed.

Thanks for sharing the information. Sharing and disseminating information is one of our best weapons against criminals.

Thank you for the post I  do not put the code in mls. We have electronic lockboxes most of the time but I will alert other agents if I see them do it.

Great info Adam.  A lot of the REO properties I appraise have combo lock boxes.  I think it is ok to use them but not okay to post the combo in MLS. 

Problems like this are one of the reasons SoCal MLS started issuing a devise that issues a one time only code that you need each time you access the MLS.  That way agents and other users of MLS can't give out their password indisciminately giving access to unscrupulous individuals. 

Which is why I HATE combo boxes and don't use myself.  Thanks for the heads-up.  People will always find a way to rip other off...it's too bad.

This exact thing happened to my parents when I was a little kid!  Some guys got the key to a really nice apartment in Louisville, KY, advertised it way below market, and collected deposits from a bunch of people.  This was in the late '40s. And they got caught and thrown into the slammer!  My parents had stopped payment on their check in time (it must have taken longer for them to clear back then).  Wow!  Some scams just never die!

If Realtors use combo lock's they should not place it in mls and when the agent has to show the property they will have to call the Realtor or there office and give there name so they will always have a list of people who went to viewed the property.  It takes nothing for the common crook to have a key made for the property, that is kind of scary!

Adam:  Thank you for your post.  I will copy it and post it in my office.  But... I am very much surprised that there are so many combo lock boxes being used in what I assumed was an "up to date" market.  Why in the world would any Realtor continue to use combination lock boxes when the electronic ones are available and, as far as I know, pretty much fool-proof ?  Thank for sharing.  Karen Anne

What a horrible plot.  Hard to believe they can get away with it.

In Austin people cant place the combo in the mls.  Personally I wish we got rid of combo lockboxes all together.

I just heard these people are moving up the coast.

Also, since the story broke a few copy-cats have been found in other states. 

It is amazing what people will do to rip someone off.  A few years ago in Brevard County FL, someone was doing this exact same scam but on HUD houses.  They would take down all the signs and pretend they were the owner.  There is one HUD key that opens every HUD house in the entire state and everybody seems to have a copy of that key, not just brokers.