You Had Better Check Your Lock Boxes!

[Randall Jacobs]

I have a SF for rent in Bacliff. This week I got a call from the Galveston Sheriff's Department. They told me that they had apprehended a wire thief at another location. The thief had an extra key on him and they determined that the key belonged to my property. I met the deputies at my property. From our joint search everything looked OK except that the electricity and water had been cut off. The deputies left and I proceeded to turn on the water and electricity. I turned on the water and noticed that all the faucets on the property were on including the pop off valve on the water heater. Once I got all the valves shut the water was fine. I then went to the breaker panel and flipped all the breakers on. NO ELECTRICITY! I called my electrician. He came out the following day and informed me that the thief had removed the breaker cover and clipped ALL the wires. They weren't going to be able to get to it for 2 weeks and it was going to cost me 3 Grand! Luckily my insurance is going to cover it. In taking with a Deputy, the MO on this guy is that he would find a property with a lock box. He would then Jimmy the lock box and take the keys for later use. Warning, you had better check your lock boxes for signs of damage. I found that I could pop most of mine with a screwdriver in 10-20 seconds. Can anyone recommend a more secure lock box? Be careful out there 😉 Randy

[Bob Gauger]

Combo lockbox with tumblers can easily be hacked. I learned from YouTube. There's also the problem with someone not scrambling the tumblers after using a lockbox, which leaves the combo for all to see. When using a combo box, I prefer the push button type that resets as soon as you open or close the box. Master Lock makes a nice product.