In early 2015, we reported that less than 50 percent of Realtors said their brokerage had proactive safety procedures in place, which many found disconcerting, considering how vulnerable agents can make themselves when visiting with clients whom they might now otherwise know. A bill currently moving through Florida’s Senate hopes to address agent safety concerns and deter crimes against agents.
Safety is a top priority for real estate professionals for one simple reason: it has to be.
In a 2015 survey of National Association of Realtors members, 40 percent of respondents (and 48 percent of female respondents) admitted to experiencing a situation that made them fear for their personal safety or the safety of their personal information. While only 2 percent said they had actually been robbed – and 1 percent said they had been assaulted – the risk is still very real, as evidenced by the 2014 abduction of Little Rock agent Beverly Carter, which is why Florida lawmakers are taking steps to up the penalty on offenses against real estate “brokers, broker associates or sales associates.”
The bill, titled SB214, aims to increase the penalties of crimes directed at real estate professionals, because, as the legislation’s sponsor, Nancy Detert (R-28th district), told the Palm Beach Post: “It’s premeditated. They’re making an appointment with you to assault, murder or rob you. It’s the stalking aspect. It’s the fact that it’s mostly a female occupation.”
Safety has become such a concern that, according to NAR, nearly 20 percent of male and 9 percent of female Realtors now carry a firearm with them for self-defense.
The Price of Stiffer Penalties
The hope, as Detert eluded to, is that stiffer penalties on crime will deter would-be criminals. However, research from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management suggests that might not be the case.
“Politicians favor tough penalties because they are cheap and psychologically reassuring, but in reality, harsh penalties may make things worse,” the report read.
It went on to explain that increasing penalties on a specific crime is essentially a means to filter out all but the most criminal element.
Citing research testing the effectiveness of penalty increases through mathematical modeling from Northwestern Professor Kathleen Haggerty and University of Pennsylvania Professor Philip Bond, the report read: “Their equations revealed that while maximum penalties suppress crime in most circumstances, they create an all-or-nothing world for criminals – one in which crime either ceases to exist or exists ceaselessly.”
For the sake of Florida Realtors, if the SB214 passes (which is currently moving through subcommittees), hopefully crimes against real estate agents cease to exist, rather than the alternative.