Protect Your Home From AC Unit Theft

You can prevent the theft of air conditioning units from your yard.

Sometimes, when you don’t want to be protected, you are and when you do want protection, you can’t get it. For example, last Sunday I told my husband that we needed to go to Target to buy our Ragdoll cat, Jackson, a Wii game. For Hanukkah, you understand, as a Hanukkah present. But my husband chose to argue instead and, quite rightly pointed out, that Jackson could not possibly be Jewish because he is white with blue eyes. Our brown cats, Pia and Pica, now those guys are not chopped liver. A Wii game, by the time you’re done buying all the remotes, miscellaneous games and accessories, is pretty expensive, but Pia and Pica really deserved a Wii, so I tried to write a check.

Nope. The system spit my check out like it was evil. Like it came from Donald Trump. Hey, I’m just a Sacramento short sale agent, but I had enough funds in my account to cover this purchase. I urged the clerk at Target to try it again. Nope. It was rejected. I handed the clerk my debit card and we swiped it. Rejected. It spit out a piece of paper with a phone number on it, which we called. Turns out there was nothing wrong with my account. The problem is I have no record of writing checks for huge sums of money at Target so my ability to access my checking account was restricted by some autobot. This is not “protection” that I want, even though it’s presented as personal protection.

Of course, when you want protection, though, it’s hard to obtain. Isn’t that how life is? This month I had my third AC unit reported stolen from one of my listings in Sacramento. Thieves are ripping them out of the yard. And they cost on average between $2,500 to $4,000 to replace. They’re not cheap. Thieves are after the aluminum and copper coil in the unit, which they sell to recyclers for about 200 bucks.

The Sacramento police department recommends 5 things you can do to protect your home from AC unit theft:

• Replace the screws on your AC unit with security screws, available at hardware stores.
• Add an AC Alarm to your home security alarm, which will sound your home alarm if the AC unit loses pressure.
• Install an AC unit cage and lock it down to your pad.
• Ask your neighbors to dial 9-1-1 if they spot suspicious people in the yard.
• Install a GPS motion detector, and pay the annual fee.

It goes without saying to keep your insurance policy in force. Especially if your home is on the market as a short sale. Be sure to check with your insurance agent if your home is unoccupied for more than 30 days — because some insurance companies do not honor claims made against a vacant home. You may want to lower your deductible since that is an out-of-pocket expense. And remember, just because your insurance policy has not been canceled does not mean you have a vacant home insurance policy that covers theft or vandalism to a vacant home. AC unit theft is on the rise in Sacramento.