Should realtors provide information on sex offenders

residing in neighborhoods when they show/sell a house?

If a young family is buying their first house and has small children, it would seem that this bit of information is every bit as important as disclosure of structural flaws in a home.

Not all people have internet access or know about the databases that exist.

Having been molested as a child, and being a parent, I would want to know.

Of course the flipside of this, is that property values would plummet if people knew that there were multiple offenders nearby, but perhaps MONEY could get the ball rolling on a sensible way to handle released offenders..

:shrug:

muggers or car theives?

:shrug:

People buy houses in areas with "good schools", parks, close-by shopping..all peripheral values..

safety should be a consideration as well..

A savvy agent could use the stats as an added bonus to his/her clients..

..

The savvy buyer will use crime statistics coupled with Google Earth for a dramatic picture.

but you can get the info online anyway.

When I was looking to rent an apartment in Dallas when I was working there so much--I checked with the police department to see what type of crimes had been committed in that complex. I was only going to be there 2-3 days a week so I wanted to make sure that there weren't alot of break-ins.
Since I didn't take my kids--I wasn't concerned with child molesters so I didn't check that database.
I think if you made that a mandatory disclosure item...you would see a huge increase in vigilante justice to run people out of the neighborhood so that people could sell their homes.
The information is readily available if the consumer wants to find it..I'm just not so sure that it is a good idea to make it mandatory that the realtor disclose it. I think people would get hurt.:shrug: