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Open House Video Surveillance and REALTOR safety

Open House Video Surveillance - REALTOR Safety

I enjoyed an interesting conversation over lunch with a past client of mine in Chandler Arizona recently. He had read a recent article about REALTOR safety, and we both acknowledged that open houses held in vacant homes are especially dangerous. This client installs video surveillance systems in commercial establishments and he asked me " Are Real Estate professionals allowed to use video surveillance cameras at open houses?"

I had to admit that I didn't know the answer! My first thought was that it must be OK since many new build model homes use cameras. I thought this might be an interesting subject for the ActiveRain community to debate. Any feedback out there on this subject?
Posted Thursday Apr 19
( 04/19/07 02:57PM ) — Joan Snodgrass Tri-Lakes Realtors, Shell Knob, MO

Kevin - that brings up a whole range of emotions and possibilities.  There seems to be so much surveillance today, I jump to say "no more".  On the other hand, safety, personal safety?  That's just dealing with the ethics of it.  Cost wise?  A whole different ballgame.  Who would pay for it?

( 04/19/07 03:07PM ) — Michelle Way ABR GRI WCR

Kevin I work for a real estate company that 85 to 90 percent of out business is new homes. That is wonderful because he builds afforable housing. The only problem is sometimes we have sub contractors. Well I am sure that you know that these people don't care about a job and a lot of them have spent time behind bars. When you are waiting our your client to show that house sometimes it can get a scary. I agree and have suggested to the builder for everyone's protection get a surveillance system.

( 04/19/07 03:34PM ) — Kaushik Sirkar

I haven't seen this suggestion before.  Not a bad idea at all.  Maybe all agents who do open houses carry a portable system and hid it behind a plant??

( 04/19/07 04:17PM ) — Kevin Hanley

Thank you for the comments. The subject sure is food for thought, isn't it? I would imagine that if we used something like this, it would be prudent to post a sign out front to make everyone aware. But that might not be such a bad thing. If a predator saw the sign, it might be a good deterent! Kaushik, you bring up a good point about portable. I don't know if there's already a product out there that could be retro-fitted for this type of application, but surely something portable would be excellent.

 

As for cost, I have no idea what something like this would cost. If some company had a portable surveillance system for the $100-200 range, I bet many REALTORS would buy it. Or here is a thought. Maybe an office could buy a couple units and rent it to those in need. Just a thought.

 

I'm going to go to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) website and see if there is any information, guidelines, or restrictions regarding this subject. If I find anything worth mentioning, I'll post it. 

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