Protect your clients from financial losses and keep your reputation intact by following your brokerage’s procedures for helping remote clients and watching for signs of scams.

In the above podcast, Illinois REALTORS® Legal Hotline Attorney Victoria Munson explains how a REALTOR® member may have prevented a scam attempt by asking the alleged property owner to confirm his identity before listing the vacant property for sale. Although the “owner” didn’t immediately follow up the phone conversation with proper identification, a list of local properties for sale caught the REALTOR’S® attention a few days later.

After discovering another broker had listed the same vacant property for sale, the REALTOR® contacted the other brokerage and helped stop a fraudulent transaction from occurring.

Looking for a resource that will help you identify and avoid a vacant property scam?

Upload the Illinois REALTORS®’ Vacant Property Scams Flyer.

Prefer to watch Munson’s podcast interview?

If your answer is yes, watch the video below.