Utah homeowners are being flooded with unwanted offers to buy their homes

WEST HAVEN, Weber County — Kelly Stone's house isn't for sale. But strangers keep calling, texting, even contacting her kids, asking to buy it.

"Somebody is calling at least once a day, dude, to try to buy my house," Stone said.

Stone never wants to leave her West Haven home. Like, ever.

"I plan to die in this house, and then I'm going to haunt it after I die," she said.

Yet for several months now, she has been getting calls, texts and cash offers from would-be buyers.

"And then it wasn't just me and my husband. They were also contacting our adult children," Stone said.

It's puzzling. The home is not for sale. It's never been for sale. And Stone is not delinquent on any payments.

"I get irritated," Stone said. "Honestly, it's an uncomfortable feeling when you keep getting these calls on a daily basis."

Get Gephardt brought Stone's frustrations to the Utah Division of Real Estate. Director Leigh Veillette says she likely didn't do anything to end up on somebody's list.

Callers can combine public county property records with information bought from data brokers, including phone numbers, email addresses and even family connections.

"I think they're casting a very wide net, hoping that they are able to to capture at least some folks who might be interested," Veillette said.

It is not necessarily a scam. Wholesaling, investing and offering cash for homes can all be legal in Utah. But Veillette said homeowners should be cautious, especially if someone won't say who they are or whether they're licensed.

"A legitimate business is not going to be afraid to identify themselves to you," she said.

Making the calls stop can be another problem. The federal Do Not Call Registry has a wrinkle. The registry generally restricts telemarketing calls trying to sell consumers goods or services. But these callers aren't trying to sell Stone something. They're trying to buy something from her, meaning those federal protections may not apply.

"Unfortunately, blocking the number doesn't necessarily make it stop, because some of these folks are using a wide variety of different telephone numbers," Veillette said.

Stone has posted not one, but two, "No Soliciting" signs at her front door.

Now, if only the callers would get the message.

"Honestly, the biggest thing that I would hope is that it was stop," Stone said.

Get Gephardt also spoke with an attorney for the Utah Division of Consumer Protection, who said the agency would like to hear from consumers if businesses continue calling after being told to stop.

Those callers, he said, may be violating state consumer protection laws.

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