Realtor Logic - Homebuyers Must Be Licensed

[James H. Bushart]

Our Missouri Association of Realtors have warned that their push for licensing is to protect the consumer, for home inspectors who are not licensed (fingerprinted and checked) could be robbers, theives...etc.

Well...it just so happens that actual theives and robbers in Missouri are using unwitting real estate salesmen to help them gain access to homes so that they can rob them... while the agent stands guard.

Theft suspects posing as home-buyers arrested

They allegedly stole wallets, purses while visiting open houses


Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, June 29, 2007


sfgate_get_fprefs();A man posing as a prospective home-buyer and a woman who represented herself as his mother were arrested Thursday after they allegedly made the rounds at open houses throughout the Bay Area, stealing purses and wallets, police said.

Paul McClung, 30, and Carol Ann Chapman, 59, were arrested in Missouri while driving a Hummer they had rented, allegedly with a stolen credit card, Berkeley police Lt. Wes Hester said. The car's tracking system led police to the pair.

McClung and Chapman have been showing up since April at real estate offices and open houses in upscale neighborhoods of Berkeley, Oakland, Fremont, Newark, Piedmont, Kensington and San Francisco, police said. Often they pulled up in a Jaguar, police said.

Investigators said the two would tell real estate agents that they were willing to buy homes for cash. Chapman would distract the agent while McClung stole wallets and purses, which they used to commit more fraud, police said.

At a recent open-house in Oakland, McClung stole a badge belonging to a former Santa Barbara police officer, police said. On June 10, he appeared at a Kensington real estate office with the badge on his belt, claimed to be an officer moving to the area from San Diego and asked for a listing of all open houses, police said. During the visit, he allegedly stole a wallet.

Virginia Thackwell said Thursday that a man she believed to be McClung and a woman carrying an expensive alligator handbag showed up at her Brannan Street office in San Francisco on May 2. The suspect flashed a Santa Barbara police badge and said his mother wanted to buy a four-bedroom condo for up to $2 million.

Later that day, Thackwell realized that her $600 Prada wallet with her credit cards and $400 in cash had been stolen. Her credit card company told her that someone had used her card at a McDonald's and a Union Square jewelry store.

"They are really slick," Thackwell said. "Now I'd like to have revenge. They are awful people. I want them to march down Market Street naked."
It's unclear whether Chapman is McClung's mother.

McClung was arrested on a warrant for failing to appear in a 2004 vandalism case in Pleasanton and for probation violations. Both were also booked on numerous other warrants for crimes including fraud and petty theft, Hester said.

E-mail Henry K. Lee at hlee@sfchronicle.com.

[Ted Allen]

I think all Home Inspectors should be licensed. They should be able to pass the NHIC and do 30+ CE per year. And that is my final offer.

Passing the NACHI test is a joke and everyone knows it.

Why not let Gerrys kick *** test(makes NHIE look silly) be the one to qualifie HI's??

[Christopher Currins]

Originally Posted by tallen

I think all Home Inspectors should be licensed. They should be able to pass the NHIC and do 30+ CE per year. And that is my final offer.

Passing the NACHI test is a joke and everyone knows it.

Why not let Gerrys kick *** test(makes NHIE look silly) be the one to qualifie HI's??

I read this complaint a lot and I have often wondered how many people, if any, have scored a 100 on the NACHI test?

[Ted Allen]

Originally Posted by ccurrins

I read this complaint a lot and I have often wondered how many people, if any, have scored a 100 on the NACHI test?

I have scored 100 on the NACHI quiz many times and a 98-92 on Gerrys "harder then the NHIE" So, whats your point?

It's not so hard when Gerry is sitting behind you pointing out the answers.


I will say that Gerrys test was much harder than the NHIE and if I remember Right only certain folks were allowed to test it. Something to do with copywrite laws or something.

[Ted Allen]

If you can not pass the NACHI entrance exam, you might want to look for a new job as I am doing.

[Roy D. Cooke, Sr]

Originally Posted by tallen

If you can not pass the NACHI entrance exam, you might want to look for a new job as I am doing.

Good BY Todd Hope you make a living at your next job,,,,,,,,,,,,, Cookie

And leave your destructive attitude behind
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