DISCLAIMER: THIS IS MY VERSION OF a drive-by
Intro:
This happened several years ago, but every time I think about it, I still laugh. It’s one of those stories that reminds me why real estate appraisal work is never boring — and why I just had to share it again.
I had a drive-by appraisal appointment today, and it turned out to be more interesting than usual. Normally, a drive-by appraisal involves taking a picture of the street and the front of the house, making a few notes, and driving off. However, today the house was not visible from the street and since I did not see a “no trespassing” sign, I proceeded to pull into the driveway to take a photo of the front of the house.
Apparently, the homeowner saw me pull into the drive and she came out to the porch and hollered at me. Being the courteous person I am, I walked toward her to see what she wanted and to let her know why I was at her home. From there, it all went downhill.
The lady of the house (and I use the word lady very loosely at this point) started telling me that they paid cash for their home and that I had no business taking a photo of her house. She asked me who I was working for and I showed her my appraisal license issued by our state. I also tried to explain to her that there were a variety of reasons that I could have been assigned to come to her home that had nothing at all to do with them or their purchase.
Unfortunately for me, the lady decided she wanted to call the local county sheriff and report me for trespassing. She asked me to please wait until they got there and I agreed. After all, I had nothing to hide. I asked if she knew how long it would be as I had some other appointments scheduled and would need to call those individuals to let them know I would be late. She said it usually took the sheriff about 10 minutes to get to her place.
(And I couldn’t help thinking she must call them a lot if she knows exactly how long it takes them to arrive.)
During the wait for the officer, the lady asked me a lot of questions I was unable to answer. She accused me of withholding information. Patiently, I answered what I could and told her that I would cooperate with her within the legalities of my profession.
For once, the arrival of the police was welcome. By now, my hands and body were shaking and I was becoming quite annoyed. Bear in mind that I still had the polite smile on my face and my responses were kind even if my teeth were gritted together. I had already given her my phone number and contact information and showed her my license.
The police called in my information and told her that I checked out fine. This must have made her a bit mad because she then had this conversation with the officer:
Lady: “Sir, will you arrest her camera?”
Officer: “Umm, I don’t think I can do that…”
Lady: “Do you know you can or you can’t?”
Officer: “I would have to call and ask.”
Lady: “Then you better call.”
By now I’m more than a little annoyed, have work I need to be doing, and my thoughts are scrolling across my forehead clearly enough for both the deputy and the lady to see, but I’m still thinking this is funny and feels like something straight out of the Twilight Zone. I would not have been surprised to have been arrested. Meanwhile, the officer was in his vehicle calling his supervisor.
“Ma’am, I cannot arrest her camera or the pictures on it without a warrant.”
Lady: “Can you arrest her for trespassing?”
Officer: “No.” He went on to tell her she would have to come to the office tomorrow, fill out some paperwork and show that I was trespassing; but he didn’t see any “no trespassing” signs posted. Since they called him out, he was going to ask me to leave peaceably and unless I came back on the property nothing would happen.
Lady: “Then put it in the police report that she be required to give me her client information.”
Officer: “I’m not able to do that.”
Lady (to me): “Will you delete your photos voluntarily?”
Me: “Not at this moment, I would have to see what my rights are in this situation.”
Lady: “Well, what are your rights?”
Me: “I’m sorry, ma’am, I didn’t attend law school and so I can’t answer that.”
Lady: “Well, what can you do?”
Me: “My job — for which you called the sheriff.”
Lady: “You need to quit lying to me and give me the phone number to the people who hired you to come to my house and take photos. She could be taking pictures to stake my house out for robbery.”
Me: “Ma’am, I have not refused to do anything you’ve asked. I do not have the information with me and I will have to check to see what I can give you legally. If you will please give me your contact information, I will do what I can…”
Lady: “You’re lying and ignoring me.”
Me: “You are entitled to your opinion that I am lying. However, I did not come here to have you lecture me and will not listen to you do so. If you will give me the information, I will take my happy self off your property. Officer?”
Officer: “Ma’am, she’s done nothing wrong, please give her the information so she can leave.”
Lady: “She’s lying, and she has that information with her.”
Me: “Officer?” I’m sure he can see that I’m so close to punching her. Please bear in mind, this lady was at least five times my size.
Officer: “Ma’am, please give her the information.”
What began as a standard workday turned into quite the drama. To top it off, this fine specimen of humanity is actually a teacher in our public schools. Maybe being kind is reserved for school days.
After 21 years of appraisal work, I still find this story amusing. It’s not the only “fun” thing that has happened in my appraisal travels.
If you enjoyed this drive-by appraisal story, you might also like another oldie-but-goodie from the archives: Life Lessons at 40 (2011).
And if you’re curious about what I do when I’m not dodging angry homeowners, you can learn more at my appraisal business site: DBA The Appraisal Company.
💬 Now it’s your turn:
What’s your funniest or craziest work horror story? Share it in the comments — and pass this post along so others can join in too.
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OMG. Number one reason I hate people! People are crazy, and have no common sense. That is really scary shes a teacher. WOW. “arrest her camera” lol that’s funny. I bet you still laugh every time you think of this “person”.