‘Rampant’ construction thefts increasing prices for homebuyers says developer

Construction thefts at housing development sites are rising at a “rampant” pace, according to a Washington developer, forcing homebuyers to navigate another challenge in the current housing market that could cost them thousands of dollars.

KIRO 7 News spoke with Scott Walker, vice president of Rush Residential, which develops thousands of homes across western Washington. He has seen thieves stealing firsthand.

“The industry overall is experiencing theft on a rampant pace each and every day,” he said.

Walker said his company’s development site in Puyallup has seen 30 to 40 incidents in the past year, including last week where suspects kicked down the back and front doors to enter the empty building. Nothing was stolen, however, one suspect left one of his belongings.

“Actually, lost his wallet on the front porch,” Walker said.

In another development site near Puyallup, Walker said, thieves cut the wires of two cameras before they stole a pile of oriented strand boards (OSB).

Thieves are stealing all sorts of items and materials, including drywall, tools, wiring, appliances, lumber, etc.

“They actually came in the area and unscrewed boards off the deck,” Walker said. “Weeks later, they came in and stole a whole house of hardwood flooring.”

And in one case, the thieves torched a home in Gig Harbor before they dashed away with the building’s raw materials, Walker added.

“The thieves are in and out in a matter of five to 10 minutes and they’re gone with the product.” He added, “The reports are daily and it’s not just in this community.”

Walker said the thefts could delay the closing of a home for two to three weeks. To recover any loss, many developers are forced to increase the prices of their homes, forcing buyers to consider a hefty price tag.

However, if thieves steal from a home that has already been sold, all homebuyers will face a steep burden, Walker said.

“That cost of the theft is going to be built in each and every home that’s sold in the future,” he explained.

“Over the life of that mortgage, on average, it’s going to cost five to six times the amount of that (cost of items stolen and damage left behind). So, if you raise the purchase price by $5,000 because everybody is getting things stolen. You can bet that’s going to cost the homeowner $20-$30,000 over the life of their home,” Walker added.

NEIGHBORHOOD SAFETY:

KIRO 7 News spoke with Stacey Killmer, a neighbor in one of Walker’s Puyallup neighborhoods, who is aware of the ongoing construction thefts.

“It’s terrifying. I mean are they [suspects] going to come break in my door or come steal packages delivered to my door,” Killmer shared.

Killmer said the construction thefts have also affected neighbors.

“It’s terrifying. We talked about how we can put a gate in.” She added, “That increases the cost for us as homeowners just to maintain the safety and security for our neighborhood.”

PIERCE COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE:

KIRO 7 News spoke with the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office in November when we covered a previous construction theft that happened in Puyallup in October.

Sgt. Darren Moss, public information officer with the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, said theft is one of the key issues affecting the county.

“I was seeing this every morning, seeing construction theft, people stealing gas from construction vehicles,” he described his experience after being promoted to sergeant in 2018.

“We believe some of them were using them for their own construction projects. In other cases, we knew that it was, people were down and out, drug users and were trying to sell it online and sell it to friends to make easy money,” he said.

Moss said thieves are aware that the cost of construction materials is rising and are using this knowledge to sell stolen items online, including Facebook Marketplace.

While some items sold online are legitimate, others may be stolen.

“When COVID hit, all construction materials just shot through the roof. So, to build a home, it started to cost exponentially more than it had a couple of years ago. And we’re still seeing that today,” he said. “[thieves] know they have a market to sell it and unfortunately, they can make a lot of money doing this kind of thing. That’s why it’s important for us to go out and find these guys who are constantly doing this over and over again.”

Moss stressed to us that the issue is important to the sheriff’s office, however, limited resources are affecting their ability to catch the thieves.

“Theft is a huge problem, but because violent crime is up, that’s what we have to focus on,” he explained. “We don’t have a large unit to go after misdemeanor-level crimes.”

Moss told us that residential burglaries have gone down by 15% this year, compared to the previous five years, and non-residential burglaries have also decreased by 10% in the same period.

However, he said people should still take proactive steps to safeguard their belongings, including locking up their property, installing security cameras, and hiring security, if necessary.

He also urged people to think before they buy any items online.

“Not only could you be getting a bad deal and getting stuff that doesn’t work, but you can also get something that is stolen that belongs to someone else,” he said. “Every single one of these cases we solve, we’re preventing possibly hundreds and hundreds of future thefts occurring as well.”