ShareThisFully loaded new homes with stainless steel refrigerators, gas stoves and dishwashers are a draw for buyers.
They also entice thieves.
Today's housing-market crisis has made the thousands of new and foreclosed homes in targets for burglars. The building industry has responded by equipping appliances with tracking devices that can help locate stolen items through global-positioning system technology.
A stove stolen from a new development in Lake Elsinore, Calif. on Nov. 10 was found after a GPS device led authorities to a Perris home, where the stove, and $15,000 worth of other appliances, were stashed.
"You only have to have one big loss to have to build a bigger mousetrap to keep your product from walking away," said Frank Williams, chief executive officer of San Bernardino County's Baldy View Chapter of the Southern California Building Industry Association. "Thieves are getting very sophisticated and we have to come up with more sophisticated equipment to stop them."
Few building industry insiders want to discuss it.
"To talk about specific opportunities is not appropriate," said Mark Knorringa, CEO for the Riverside County Building Industry Association. Knorringa said it could draw unwanted attention, additional thefts and compromise security measures. "I don't want to encourage anyone. We have taken the position to be vigilant and proactive."
The techniques builders use to guard their property are kept so close to the vest that no statistics exist to show how widely the GPS devices are used, or how successful they have been. Neither the builders who install the devices, nor sheriff's departments that respond to calls about thefts, keep data specifically on how many appliances are stolen.
Williams said tracking devices aren't just used in new, vacant homes; they're also being installed more frequently on property in foreclosed homes, at bank-owned properties and on construction sites.
Individuals can also use GPS tracking devices, which run from about $100 to $500 per item, on other valuables including laptops, telephones and construction equipment.
While police have used tracking devices for years to find stolen vehicles and cargo, some developers say using the devices in home assets is a relatively new trend. Other homebuilders say it's just recently that news of the security measures is getting out to the public.
Lake Elsinore police Capt. Joseph Cleary, whose department tracked down the GPS-equipped stove that was stolen from a home last month, said tracking devices have long been used to help authorities locate stolen vehicles.
"It's very beneficial to retrieving property," Cleary said. "There's a fairly long history of law enforcement being notified of stolen goods through electronic means. There's probably a whole host of companies who use it for those kinds of thefts in building homes and keeping costs down."
Williams, of the Building Industry Association, said builders are changing their tactics to deal with appliance theft. Appliances are not added to most homes until as late as possible, close to the sale, he said. Some homes are also being outfitted with security cameras.
Williams said he believes every major homebuilder has some type of security device in unattended homes.
"Thieves should be very careful if they're going into a home that's not occupied. There will be a big surprise waiting for them."
Equipping an appliance with a tracking system costs up to $500 each, said Gilbert Waltz, president of Tracking the World, a GPS company contracted by KB Home. The appliances can be worth more than of $3,000.
The matchbox-size GPS device, which has an electronic chip and a battery pack, is placed inside the appliance and emits a signal. It can be set up to regularly send messages to identify the item's location, or send out an alert when the device is moved out of a specific area, Waltz said. Once the device is triggered, it can send a text message or e-mail.
When homebuilders are alerted that something has been stolen, they can report it to authorities, who can use the GPS data to locate it.
The system isn't always accurate. Lake Elsinore deputies once responded to a theft report when a GPS device sent out a false signal. The appliance was untouched inside the home.
Waltz said the tracking devices can be expensive, but he said avoiding potential losses is worth it.
"Home appliances are being ripped off. They take whatever they can steal," Waltz said. "They want this as a way to stop it or catch the thieves."
Builders have also used the tracking system to monitor items from kitchen cabinets to palm trees.
E-mail John Asbury at jasbury(at)PE.com
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
Must credit The Press-Enterprise of Riverside, Calif.
