Missing lockbox keys...

[Ben Skove]

For the second time in a short period of time, the key for a property I was interested in was missing from the lockbox. It happened to be for a particularly good deal, and my realtor said it wasn't unknown for real estate agents to pocket the key to make things more difficult for other buyers.

Adding insult to injury, the property went pending before I could get inside it. (Evidently the listing agent wasn't able to get a new key out the same day.) This was frustrating, and while there's the possibility someone did it on accident, it seems very suspicious.

I imagine there are probably no consequences for unethical behavior like this. Has anyone else run into this sort of thing?