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Stepping into a stranger’s home is all part of the job for mortgage brokers. But what can you do to ensure a safe encounter with the unknown?

A band of upper-class seniors in Germany made headlines last year when they kidnapped and tortured their financial advisor in  a ‘revenge attack’ for substantial losses they incurred during the credit crunch.

The victim, 56-year-old James Amburn, told the media he thought he was “a dead man” after he was assaulted and bound “like a mummy” with masking tape. Two couples that had entrusted Amburn’s investment company with A$4m of life savings bundled him into an Audi and drove him to one of their holiday homes near the Austrian border, where they held him in a cellar for four days.

Forty armed policemen eventually freed Amburn after he pretended to send a fax to a Swiss bank asking for a transfer of funds that said, “call police”.

This story is by no means an isolated case. Financial advisors, realtors and mortgage brokers make a living dealing with the general public. But can you always trust your customers? 

Recently the JournalNews in Ohio reported that in early February, a female realtor was attacked. The woman was preparing to close an open house when the doorbell rang. She opened the door to find a man wearing a ski mask asking to see the house. She told him to leave, then locked the door. She then hurried to the garage to lock it, but the man came in and grabbed her. Luckily, she managed to fight off the attack and her assailant ran away.

It’s not uncommon for realtors to meet customers for the first time alone in a house. Agents are often on their own in the office late at night doing paperwork and some agents go door-to-door looking for listings – all strikingly similar to the activities of mortgage brokers.

Katrina Rowlands, principal of Mortgage Success in Wollongong, is one of the most successful brokers in Australia and a perennial favourite on MPA’s Top 100 brokers list.

“I always see clients at their convenience so this still may entail home visits,” she says, adding that these visits are often in the evening.

Rowlands agrees that she feels slightly more vulnerable being a woman and on occasion she says she has felt some trepidation at visiting clients privately. “I will admit I have – probably twice or three times – asked myself, ‘should I have put myself in this situation?’ ”

On one occasion, Rowlands says she backed out of a meeting after her office received a strange phone call. “The client specifically asked to see a woman and asked if I was the lady in the photo and specifically asked if I would attend the appointment alone in the evening after 8pm.

“My staff member did not make an appointment but referred him to me after discussing his questions. I offered to see him out of hours in my office prior to [that time] – and planned to have staff still here – or at his home with my partner and he did not call back. I did not pursue the appointment.”

Haley North, mortgage and finance consultant from Smartmove, recalled her own odd meeting request. “I once had an experience where I did not feel comfortable meeting a client, on my own out of hours at a public place. The ‘opportunity’ was generated by handing my business card to a colleague of a friend of mine who wanted to meet to discuss loans, but I got the distinct impression that that was not the real reason he wanted to meet. After speaking with my colleagues we agreed that another broker would attend the meeting with me – once this was suggested to the new potential customer his interest in meeting died off and he never made a time.”

North, who also makes home visits with clients, suggests that it would be a good idea to let a colleague or family member know when you are meeting a client at their home.

This is precisely the protocol Rowlands has adopted for special circumstances, where she feels unsure about the client. “If I have any doubtful feelings about a home visit, I tell my husband exactly where I am and at what time I entered the home and the address and phone number. In my diary I always note the contact details of the clients, so again he knows where I am and to call the client to check my whereabouts if he has concerns,” she says.

“Also, I keep his number on the front of my phone so a knock of the right key will allow him to listen in on the meeting. I always keep my phone on my lap in this instance, not on the table.”

Claire Kilgore of National Mortgages says she always makes sure someone knows where she is when she’s on the road visiting clients. But Kilgore also takes comfort in the fact that all of her clients are by referral. “We have made it a business strategy to develop our referrals purely from existing customers, which avoids cold-callers and tyre-kickers, so if there is no personal referral I would not make a home visit.”

Maria Rigoni, director of Universal Wealth Management, says she wouldn’t have any qualms about turning down business if it didn’t feel right, especially if she had no idea who the person was, or if the enquiry came via the internet or some other unsolicited media. “If you feel something about someone is not quite right or is dodgy, trust your judgment and refuse the ‘opportunity’ – many more will come your way,” she says.

Rigoni often makes home visits in the evening. While she doesn’t fear her clients, many of whom are referred on, she still takes special precautions. “I always park in well-lit areas close by the residence I am visiting. I avoid parking near toilet blocks or dark park-like areas. I usually glance around the streetscape before I hop out of the car.”
Brokers should use their common sense. Rowlands suggests to “offer alternatives to the client and you can nearly always make a mutually satisfactory arrangement, if all they are really after is a good home loan. Any doubt is not worth the risk – better to miss the loan than to regret a silly decision.”

Safety tips
• Always meet a client for the first time in the office
• Introduce the client to your co-workers
• If visiting a client at their home, try to stay closest to the door
• Make sure a colleague or family member knows where you are
• Mark the appointment and details of the visit in your calendar
• Keep valuables safe by leaving them at home or locking them in the car
• Always carry a mobile phone and make sure that emergency numbers are programmed into the speed dial
• On home visits, keep your phone in your hand and not in your bag or
on the table
• Ask the office manager to control all keys to the office and to place deadbolts on the doors. If you are alone in the office at night, draw the shades and do not admit anyone you do not know well and trust
• Go with your gut. If something doesn’t feel right, if anything raises the hair on the back of your neck – escape the situation immediately. You might feel like an idiot but don’t worry about it
• Don’t let your desperation for business override common sense. No deal is worth risking your life for
• Be suspicious – police have also noted an increase in crimes where a woman sets up the victim, even for sexual assault. Women tend to be much more trusting of another female and let down their guard. Until you really know a customer, remain vigilant at all times – regardless of the gender, appearance, dress, or charm
 
 

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