Real estate can be a dangerous job.  Your job involves meeting strangers in empty houses by yourself.  There are dozens of examples of an agent meeting someone to show them a house, or having a customer come into an open house, or some other regular activity for an agent and it ends up very badly.

I had a personal safety issue that was a little different than the ones we typically hear about.

I went to a broker breakfast at my local Realtor association.  The speaker was a real estate investor.  We talked before and after his presentation and wanted to explore some partnership opportunities.  I met with him and his business partner at my school.  We came up with several ideas where we could both make money.  I was very excited about it.  We scheduled a second meeting where we would finalize our ideas a little more and talk about money.  I was very excited about this joint venture.

Fast forward a few weeks to the night before our second meeting, I ran this guy’s phone number through Forewarn.  Forewarn is an app, where you can type in someone’s phone number, and it will tell you their name, address, criminal history, vehicle history, alias, etc.  All things that are useful to know before you do business with a stranger.  Florida Realtors provides this app free of charge to all of their members.

The search turned up that this guy was convicted of organized fraud and grand theft related to the mortgage industry.  It wasn’t even that long ago – just two years ago!  I was surprised because this guy spoke at Orlando Realtors so I assume they had vetted him somewhat.  I was so stunned that I wanted to doublecheck it.  I didn’t want this to be accurate.  I went directly to the Miami-Dade Clerk of Court to see.  Unfortunately, it was accurate.  I was able to see his mug shot on the Florida Department of Law Enforcement site, so I knew it was the right person.

I contacted him and told him that I was no longer interested in meeting.  Unfortunately, our business venture died before it even got off the ground.  But it could have been so much worse.  I could have lost a lot of money, or gotten involved in a situation that ruined my reputation.

I’m so glad I looked him up in Forewarn.  It’s so easy to skip that step.  You think, “He seems like a nice guy.  I’m sure he’s honest.”  I ran the Forewarn search on a whim.  From now on, I will be intentional about it.

Please note that Karen Climer has no affiliation with Climer School of Real Estate.  Her father, Ron Climer, sold Climer School of Real Estate in 2014.  It has since been involved in several mergers and acquisitions and is owned by a large investment company.  Karen owns Demetree School of Real Estate in Orlando, Florida.