RealGuard, a division of Misiu Systems LLC, on Thursday launched the Real Estate Agent Safety Online Network (REASON), a Web-based forum where real estate professionals can exchange news and tips for maintaining workplace safety.
Membership in the online bulletin board system is free and it is open to all MLS boards, real estate associations, law enforcement agencies and brokerage offices.
“With several violent attacks against agents each month nationwide we feel that it is important to get the information out to the community. We believe that the REASON can act like our industry’s own Amber Alert,” said Todd Hodgen, founder and CEO of Misiu Systems, which developed the RealGuard Personal Alarm System. “We are purposely launching this service coincident with Realtor Safety Week with the hope that the entire community will continue to focus on safety throughout the year.”
There has been a spat of real estate violence in recent months.
Garland Taylor, an Albuquerque, N.M., Realtor and church deacon was found murdered last month in a home he had shown earlier that day. The body showed signs of trauma, investigators said. Taylor was the listing agent for the home, which had a list price of $910,000.
Just a few weeks earlier, the body of L.A.-area Realtor Julia Buchanan “Deede” Keller was found in San Diego, wrapped in a yellow blanket and stuffed inside the trunk of her car.
Earlier this month, a 78-year-old man was beaten to death Monday in Queens, N.Y., after refusing to sell his house for below market value. A woman who wanted to buy Charles Schlechtiger’s home in Queens lured him to a park where he was met by a former convict she hired to frighten him into giving up his house keys, law enforcement officials said. But the meeting turned violent and Schlechtiger was declared dead at the scene. Police arrested the woman, Liat Corman, and the man she hired, Jason Shawn Smith, on charges of second-degree murder and robbery.
Founded in April 2002, Misiu Systems LLC (pronounced “me-shoe”) aims to increase real estate agent safety and awareness through products using current and evolving technologies.
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