OCEAN PINES– A week after a mild panic erupted in the community following allegations of fraud, activity appears to have died down surrounding suspicious stickers placed on homes by foreclosure firm Mortgage Contracting Services.
A suspicious locksmith, called to change the locks on an Ocean Pines home, reported an offending sticker to an agent at Prudential PenFed Realty. Prudential notified police, who asked the public to remain vigilant.
The stickers, allegedly placed in hard-to-read spots on garage doors, stated a property “has been determined to be vacant and abandoned” and warned, “This property may have its locks replaced and/or plumbing systems winterized within the next few days.”
After calling the number on the sticker the realtor said he spoke with a rude MCS customer service operative who told him, “We don’t need you (that property), we have 2,700 other ones to deal with in Ocean Pines and Worcester County.”
Amy Hunt, an agent for Androvett Legal Media and Marketing who represent MCS, said she could not speak specifically about the number of properties it manages in Ocean Pines although, “it is safe to say that in that general area the company has worked on significantly fewer than the 2,700 homes mentioned.”
Hunt said company policy is to place notification stickers in an immediately visible location.
“The placement of stickers (described) is not compliant with our standard procedure nor does it match photographs our vendor took showing the stickers in place at that location,” she said.
Hunt also said MCS executives obtained a tape recording of the allegedly “rude” call, which differed from the description provided by the realtor.
“Not only was the customer service representative professional and polite to the caller, but there was no mention of ‘2,700 other’ homes nor was the statement ‘We don’t need you’ or words to that effect said to the caller,” she said. “We cannot explain the discrepancy, but we are satisfied that the call was handled properly.”
Ocean Pines Police Chief David Massey said he received no new reports of stickers during the last week.
A suspicious locksmith, called to change the locks on an Ocean Pines home, reported an offending sticker to an agent at Prudential PenFed Realty. Prudential notified police, who asked the public to remain vigilant.
The stickers, allegedly placed in hard-to-read spots on garage doors, stated a property “has been determined to be vacant and abandoned” and warned, “This property may have its locks replaced and/or plumbing systems winterized within the next few days.”
After calling the number on the sticker the realtor said he spoke with a rude MCS customer service operative who told him, “We don’t need you (that property), we have 2,700 other ones to deal with in Ocean Pines and Worcester County.”
Amy Hunt, an agent for Androvett Legal Media and Marketing who represent MCS, said she could not speak specifically about the number of properties it manages in Ocean Pines although, “it is safe to say that in that general area the company has worked on significantly fewer than the 2,700 homes mentioned.”
Hunt said company policy is to place notification stickers in an immediately visible location.
“The placement of stickers (described) is not compliant with our standard procedure nor does it match photographs our vendor took showing the stickers in place at that location,” she said.
Hunt also said MCS executives obtained a tape recording of the allegedly “rude” call, which differed from the description provided by the realtor.
“Not only was the customer service representative professional and polite to the caller, but there was no mention of ‘2,700 other’ homes nor was the statement ‘We don’t need you’ or words to that effect said to the caller,” she said. “We cannot explain the discrepancy, but we are satisfied that the call was handled properly.”
Ocean Pines Police Chief David Massey said he received no new reports of stickers during the last week.