I am still in shock.
I was looking at a listing online and I saw a link to "Document 1" and a "Document 2."
Amazingly this Realtor had uploaded the Property Disclaimer sheet with their clients' signatures! I'm not talking about on the back end MLS, but on a public website! They probably did it by accident, thinking it was available to Realtors only, but this is horrible.
As if identity theft wasn't bad enough, couple that with a person that has announced that they are moving, and they are perfect prey for identity theft.
I agree with Chuck Boles who taught an NVAR class with me, and suggested to everyone that the property disclaimer (since it has the client signatures) also NOT be made available at Open Houses so that anybody could have the seller's signatures. Instead put "Signature on file, available upon request by Realtor at time of offer."
So is it just me, or is this a major privacy violation?
I am tempted to call out the "Top 5" major company that did this, but I'll restrain myself until they have a chance to fix the issue. If they say they are fine with this, then I will call them out by name.
Update: I reported it to the local Realtor association on Friday at 9pm, and as of Monday at 9pm, the client's signature is still public. I hope they take action and will consider a privacy policy and ask that all agents adopt it.
Homeowners: How mad would you be if you were selling your home, and you found your signatures posted online?
NVAR Realtors: If you think this is wrong, contact NVAR to tell them that if they don't create privacy policies (or at least suggestions) for all Realtors, a few Realtors will give the rest of us a bad name.
Written by Frank Borges LL0SA- Broker FranklyRealty.com
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