HAR serves its members in many ways. We believe the most important way is by sharing information about your safety. Without exception, safety should come first in all that you do. The real estate profession involves interaction with consumers who, in most cases, are complete strangers. It is therefore recommended that when meeting a prospective buyer at a property, conducting an open house or any other meeting between REALTOR® and consumer alone, you exercise caution and common sense.

With that in mind, HAR has begun receiving calls from several members alerting us to the return of “Foot Fetish Creep.” This is a man who has been on and off HAR’s and law enforcement’s radar for the past few years. Typically identifying himself as Andy or Eddie when he calls, he asks to be shown vacant properties above a certain dollar figure. He seems to target female agents whose photographs have been featured in ads in various print publications around the greater Houston area.

During his calls, the man asks the agent to describe her footwear and will usually request that she remove her shoes for improved cell phone reception. In some cases he asks whether they have had a pedicure and to describe the nail polish.

It is virtually impossible to know when he is calling because his calls display as “blocked” on most mobile phones. At least one brokerage invested in a special service that reveals blocked numbers and that aided police in their earlier investigation. The man tends to abruptly end his calls when he speaks to a male.

Fortunately no HAR members have been harmed by this individual other than being subjected to his requests for descriptions of shoes and feet during the calls. To date, most REALTORS® either sense that something is wrong and hang up or he hasn’t shown up when they have actually scheduled a showing. The latter group has always taken a husband or boyfriend with them since they did still have an inkling that he was making somewhat odd requests.

HAR urges you to contact your local police department should you receive a call from this man. The more complaints that law enforcement receives about this individual, the more likely it is that they will finally make this case a priority for investigation that hopefully brings about an end to the harassing calls.