FERNDALE, Mich. – A new crime spree has thieves stealing appliances and anything of value from homes on the market for sale.
Ferndale has become a hot spot for real estate as dozens of old homes are being rehabbed and flipped.
Residents in the area are happy, because it brings up the property value to their own homes, but the fresh new homes come with a new problem - theft.
When a home is fetching a buyer, it sits on the market for days, months and sometimes even longer.
This means that there’s an empty house full of brand new appliances and possibly other staging furnishings just sitting there, unsupervised.
"They got the furnace, the stove, they couldn't fit the refrigerator through he front door so they just damaged the floor moving it. They scratched up the floor. They scratched it up, they did some real damage," said Jason Konsek, who lives next door to an empty home which has recently been robbed.
Ferndale Police Sgt. Baron Brown said the bold thieves who may be acting like any other work crew have prompted the department to ask residents for something highly unusual.
"Our residents who are near a vacant house and see a work truck pull up and guys start working on a house that they call us so we can go out and checkout to make sure they are legitimate workers." Brown said.
Three neighborhoods in Ferndale have been targeted so far: Pearson, East Bennett and Morehouse Street.
It is advised that homeowners install alarms before they start rehabbing homes, not after the project is complete.