Editors Note: This is a special fifth segment to Agent News' week long series: Every Realtor's Nightmare which will bring you safety tips rom experts and the two Realtors profiled.

Safety tips, while helpful for Realtors, often seem obvious. Of course you shouldn't show a house by yourself. Naturally, you should avoid showing properties at night. But how often do agents really practice these suggestions? The stories of agents Joan Malone and Paula Herrington, by no means unique, aren't meant to scare people. Instead, both women hope to illustrate that complacency is dangerous; as their stories so dramatically indicate, letting down our guard can change our lives in an instant.

The March 1996 issue of The Pennsylvania REALTOR was faxed to local Realtors after Charlotte Fimiano's murder in September. The issue listed the following guidelines for agents:

• Be alert. Prevention is the best defense.
• Trust your instincts.
• Don't wear flashy or expensive jewelry. Dress conservatively.
• Don't host an open house alone.
• Don't list your phone number on your business card.
• Invest in a voice pager, so you're never out of touch with your office.
• Rent or borrow a cellular phone if you must sit at a property that does not have a phone.
• Meet prospects at your office.
• Never meet a prospect based only on a phone call.
• Always take your own car when showing a property.
• Let potential buyers explore the home by themselves, and follow behind. Don't go into the basement or confined areas.
• Leave word with someone of where and with whom your appointments will be.
• Use sign-in sheets, and ask prospects to show ID. If in doubt when meeting a prospect, state that it's company policy to ask for identification.
• Never show a property alone at night.
• Never advertise a property as vacant.
• Report any suspicious experience to police.
• Offices should have a coded distress signal that is obvious to the office but not the prospect.
• Carry a whistle, mace, or pepper spray.

Malone now works by referral only, though she realizes that agents who are building their careers don't necessarily have the luxury of going that route. She adds that taking on a partner and visiting properties as pairs -- as Herrington did for a while -- results in a splitting of profits. Malone recommends that agents require photo identification, such as a driver's license, from their clients before they leave the office.

But while that idea sounds effective on the surface, Herrington says, her own attacker -- who served time in prison for armed robbery prior to her attack -- was asked twice for his own driver's license when he rented motel rooms during her two-day ordeal. When asked for his license, he'd merely say he needed to go to his car to get it, and then he'd drive to another hotel that didn't require such identification.

Reflecting on those two horrific days, Herrington acknowledges violating two of the guidelines mentioned above. She left in her client's vehicle and shouldn't have gone anywhere with him so soon after the initial phone contact. Herrington agrees that real estate professionals should heed any warning signals, however intuitive those may be, that suggest they may be in the company of someone who might do them harm. However, she says, she never picked up any negative signals prior to the attack; her client seemed like a genuinely "nice guy" until he turned vicious.

During individual and group therapy sessions following her attack, Herrington was told repeatedly by other female victims that their attackers had brought them down to a "comfort level" at which they let their guard down almost completely. The only signal Herrington can recall today is that her attacker took off his sunglasses when they went back inside the house "because he knew there was going to be a struggle," she says.

Even constant vigilance may not be sufficient to ward off an attack. And publishing safety guidelines may help criminals devise strategies for circumventing them, says Denise Smith, public relations director for Weichert Realty.

The Assault Prevention Network recommends a few other tips that co-workers may follow to protect themselves and each other:

• Don't leave your keys lying about.
• Notify security personnel if you notice suspicious people or vehicles, especially after normal working hours.
• Know your co-workers and look out for each other.
• At every phone, list emergency telephone numbers for security, police, and fire departments. And list employees who are trained in CPR or first aid.
• Arrange a meeting for all employees. Define emergency situations, discuss scenarios -- both hypothetical and those that have already happened -- and consult local law enforcement and legal staff.
• Keep potential weapons of opportunity out of casual reach of clients.
• Identify possible entrance points and hiding places in homes. Secure them, and check them before locking up each day.
• Perhaps most important, communicate. If you don't feel comfortable with a prospective client, talk to your co-workers about that person.

• Allow the staff person to talk it out and express their feelings about the incident.
• Refrain from blame.
• Use the incident to obtain information on how to handle the next one.
• Arrange for support for all affected staff.

Published: July 24, 1998

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.