Help!! Somebody's taking photos of my House !!!!!

Just imagine that you get a notification from your Ring Door bell or security camera showing someone outside taking photos of your property or vehicle, or even of your front door. Your first thought might be that someone is casing out your location, maybe to see if you are home so they can steal something. Relax!!

Welcome to the world of Field Inspections. With the increasing use of internet technology and the online method of doing business, most online lending , finance, and mortgage companies are using field inspectors for verifying, and collecting data needed to conduct business. Visual technology and photography are the latest to come across. A lot of companies are utilizing photos from cell phones and apps to appraise, evaluate properties, collect neighborhood information, and verify occupancy without having to travel to the location. Usually a company will utilize a third party contractor to collect the photos. More than likely, that is the person in the doorbell camera taking photos.

What Reason could they possibly have to take photos?

There are several reasons that a company that you are doing business might ask for a field inspection or Occupancy Verification.

Did you recently apply for a credit card, or fill out an application for a online business store? Credit card companies will use field inspections to verify your address, to see if the information you provided for them is accurate.

Did you try to get a lower interest rate on your home loan or apply for a refinance loan? Banks often will order a field visit to get a visual appraisal of the value of your home.

Did you file an insurance claim or apply for insurance recently? Insurance companies will usually send out field inspectors to evualate a claim, or to get an evualation of property if you are applying for insurance. Banks, Mortgage Companies and lienholders will also order a field visit to to verify that work was completed on the property.

Are you behind on your Mortgage, vehicle payment, or other loan? If you are behind on your loan payment, and the company has problems, they will often order a field visit with a letter drop to be hand delivered, notifing you to contact them about your loan.

Have you filed for Bankruptcy or is your property under foreclosure? Mortgage companies will often send inspectors out on a regular basis to verify occupancy.

Who Authorizes these Inspections to be conducted on my property, and are they legal?

More than likely, YOU did when you signed that note or loan agreement. By law, a lienholder has the right to go onto and inspected the property as they are concidered Owners until the loan is paid. They have to follow the FTCA guidelines as well as the inspector that is conducting the inspections.

What should I do if I encounter an inspector on my property? Be nice. The inspector you encounter has no interest in anything other than obtaining the information they are paid to obtain. The inspector should be carrying an authorization letter from the hiring company. They are required to show you that letter if you ask for it. Dont expect them to show you any personal identification. They are required not to give out any personal identification for security reasons.

What if I refuse to accept a letter, or inspection? Depending on the circumstance, your application could be denied, or if you refuse to contact the Mortgage Company, they may accelerate the note.

Why are they taking so many photos? Field inspectors are required to document the visit through photos that are geo tagged, and time stamped. They must provide documentation of the visit, their location, photos of documents left, street scenes, street signs, as well as other data. This insures that the visit was properly conducted under FTCA guidelines.

Hopefully, this will help explain that person that is on your Ring Doorbell outside taking photos. Remenber, they are only a messenger and are only there to collect data thru photos and documentation.