Has anyone had a worker pilfering through parent's home?

We had two four-hour weekly assist sessions for my Mom thru Area Agency on Aging. They were to clean her bedroom and bathroom, change her bed and do her laundry. I stayed home the first time the aide came. I showed her what she was to do. My mom's bedroom and bath were at the back of the house and my mom and I were in the living room. I heard drawers opening and closing in the bedroom. I went back to check and she had a box with my mother's good jewelry inside on the dresser and she was going thru it. I called the provider she worked thru and asked them to come pick her up. Had I not been there, she could have taken what she pleased. My mother had severe hearing and vision issues; she would never had heard anything. First and last time for that. 

I am always stunned that when dd and I were looking to buy her first home, the things that were left out in plain site. One home had Credit cards laying on the kitchen counter! even our realator was beyond surprised! I always make sure someone in the family is home when repair people come,, even ones we have used in the past. If the home is still full of stuff, the temptation is great.. sort of like when we hired babysitters and we just knew they were snooping!

It must be especially challenging to manage care for a home when you're so far away.

Thanks for providing more information, and please let us know how this works out for you. I might be facing a similar situation soon, although I'm close enough to be on site when tradespeople come.

Stillawoods, read over the Realtor Listing Agreement to see what the Realtor is or is not responsible for regarding the house. If the Realtor had ordered the tradesman and the tradesman became noisy then one could blame the HVAC company and the real estate company. If the Seller or POA ordered the repair on their own, then the Realtor had no dog in the fight.

When my Dad moved to senior living, and had me put his house on the market For Sale, there was a lot of stuff in the house, especially of interest were tools in the basement. I use to meet the trades-people at the house to let them in, and wait. Once the house was almost empty of "stuff", then I would give the trades-people the code for the contractor's spy-box to get the key.

My boss had a real estate client who lived out of state, and the client needed to have his home repaired of a large water leak. Since many tradesmen were involved, the Seller and my boss came to any agreement of an hourly rate for my boss to be at the house to over-see the work. The Seller knew it wasn't fair to pay my boss nothing for all of his time.

This is a company that has worked for us for many years (more than 10 years). I hired them and the company was given a key to access home to do routine maintenance and repairs. I live over 1000 miles from my childhood home. But GardenArtist you bring up good points for conversation and consideration with realtor oversight. Thanks also for the idea of contacting licensing bureau with state. That had not occurred to me. I will contact them Monday. Thanks for your insights!

Oh, and contact the realtor. Did this errant worker access the house through the realtor's lock box? If so, demand that it be changed.

Now I'm wondering....was this worker hired by you or by the realtor? If the latter, I'd find another realtor.

Woods, thanks for sharing this unsettling and troubling event. It could happen to anyone who allows a tradesman into a home while the owner(s) is not there, but it does raise a concern about repairs when someone is out of the home for quite some time.

What I would do is research or on Monday call the state department that licenses certain trades. I'm assuming this man worked for an HVAC company? I don't know if they would have to be licensed in your state, but if so, file a complaint with the state department of licensing.

I don't know how much, if any, action would be taken, but it would reflect on the company's profile. If you call, though, do ask what other action can be taken against the company.

If I understand correctly, the company merely apologized and accepted the worker's denial of any theft. I wouldn't be particularly comfortable with that. I think good companies would fire the worker.

It wouldn't hurt for you to contact the company directly and ask what further action will be taken. If none, obviously that company comes off your list of acceptable tradesmen.

You might find a trade association of HVAC people with whom you could file a complaint. Any company that doesn't respond to this kind of personal invasion of someone's space is a company that I would consider an undesirable one, and others have a right to know.

If you got this company through Angie's List or other similar organization, do file a complaint with them.

Be prepared for retaliation though and boost up the security on the home with an extensive alarm system. Change the locks or the combination on the lock box.

You could also file a complaint with the BBB, although I think they merely list the complaint on the company's profile on the BBB website. I would give the owner a chance to explain first though.