Purse or Roving Office

Some people consider a purse to be a fashion statement, but for real estate agents, a purse often contains a mini-office.  Such was the case with my purse.  Those who lifted my purse wondered if I used it as a free weight.  The thief who lifted it found quite a cache inside:

• cell phone with my complete database and calender
• blue tooth hands free device
• financial calculator
• tape measure
• a Leatherman multi-tool
• not one, but two checkbooks because REALTORS® are encouraged to keep their personal accounts separate from their expense accounts
• ditto for the two credit cards
• enough identity cards to wallpaper a room including insurance, medical, REALTOR® membership card, health club membership, video store membership, library card, health directive card, real estate agent license, driver's license and social security card (I know, I know.  One should NEVER EVER carry their social security card on their person, but I was of the generation who was encouraged to carry it with them at all times.  The habit was still in place.)
• a new wide angle digital camera
• $25.00 cash
• my written messages that need to be returned but are now permanently lost including the person who called wanting information about contract for deeds
• a list of tenant prospects with their numbers
• various personal hygiene articles like tooth paste, tooth brush, chap stick, mirror, nail clipper, nail file, comb, lotion, a tube of medicine, Benadryl tablets, dirty tissues (which I hope the miscreant who stole my purse has to get all over their sticky fingers!), wet wipes, packets of eye glass cleaner, etc.
• a minimum of 10 pens and pencils
• business card case (leather, but I'm glad it wasn't new!)
• wallet
• credit card case
• receipts for clothing that was to be returned

Needless to say, the theft of my purse has been an inconvenience at best and a fiasco at the worst!  Ironically my keys (master key to the apartment would have required many locks to be changed, house keys, children's house keys, office keys, 3 sets of car keys, etc) were in my pocket so properties and vehicles are safe.  My  own business cards were in the car waiting to be loaded into the card case so the thief has to research where I work. 

The cell phone calls are forwarded to another number until the phone can be replaced.  A borrowed camera is a temporary fix.  The Leatherman . . . my dear Leatherman . . . $80 of multi-tool won't reap that much on the black market.  Old voice mails are stuck in limbo land until a new phone is purchased.  Credit cards were closed.  Bank accounts were closed.  New accounts opened.  New identity cards ordered.  New driver's license was the easiest of all.  IF you have no identity, but had a license before, the computer age has allowed the State to check your old driver's license picture to see if that's you and issue a replacement license. 

The total financial loss can't be calculated.  The calls that can't be returned are an unknown monetary loss.  Replacing the purse and its contents will be spendy, but not nearly as frustrating as the loss of time spent closing, placing fraud alerts, and opening accounts.  The time inconvenience will continue for months beyond the initial reports as fraud alerts will require additional documentation every time an account is opened or accessed, and that's if serious fraud is not involved through stolen identity!

Comments

[Bonnie Erickson]

Patricia, It was an equal hassle to me as to the Realtor you know. By the time the purse came back, I had closed accounts and replaced all the ID cards. It truly was a huge hassle.

[Patricia Beck]

What a hassle to deal with all of that! A realtor I know had her car broken into recently while showing a home (less than 10 minutes) and they took everything. I felt so bad for her having to re-key her garage door, cancel credit cards, etc... Hope you were able to track down or replace everything!

[Bonnie Erickson]

Tom, The post office gets stolen/lost goods quite frequently. They return anything that has identification in it. I have covered as many tracks as I can to prevent any problems and am still getting mail (plus have received all of my replacements to date!).

[Thomas Johnson]

Bonnie- The post office? Check with the postmaster to see if any address changes have been entered. They may be looking to pick off your replacements.

[Bonnie Erickson]

Tom,

Ironically after spending the entire week replacing all my insurance and ID cards, closing and opening accounts, and buying those personal hygiene replacement items, a call came to me from the US Post Office. They wanted to know if I was missing a purse! Oh, yea, you betcha I am!!!! The expensive items were gone: cell phone, camera, driver's license, and credit cards, but the Leatherman was returned and every note with phone numbers is now back in my possession. The purse had been thoroughly ransacked with EVERYTHING sorted through with a fine tooth comb but the non-valuable things were all there including the 16 Benadryl tablets. I have a new cell phone which automatically locks requiring a pass code to use it. I like this one better. The old Treo can never be hooked up because it is registered as stolen. That's my attempt at defeating the thief! The social security card was returned as well but that means nothing. Now the card is in a safe deposit box. My driver's license is gone but the new one is on its way. What a nightmare of a week.

[Thomas Johnson]

Ouch! Your pain reminded me to put all credit card on the scanner and file the page away...