Thieves Prey on Home Construction Sites

As builders put the finishing touches on her dream home, Marilyn Grychka got the feeling someone was watching the construction.

"For some reason, I was having bad vibes that maybe somebody's gonna break in and steal our stuff," she said.

Sure enough, before the Grychkas moved into their new house, they discovered burglars had beaten them to it. "They stole the dishwasher, our oven, our microwave oven and our range top," said Steven Grychka.

On construction sites across the country, builders are putting up houses by day, but by night, burglars come in and take whatever is not nailed down.

Homeowners End Up Paying

Many home builders say the phenomenon is becoming more common. "I've talked to builders all over the country and it's becoming an epidemic," said builder Les Tarrance.

It's an epidemic that costs the industry $5 billion a year, according to the National Association of Home Builders. But who really ends up paying?

"Well, the consumer ends up paying because we have to add that to the price of the house eventually," said Tarrance.

This "crime tax" jacks up the price of the average new home by $3,700.

Private Detectives on the Case

Private detective Mark Stephens helps builders guard against theft, and he says there's no shortage of work.

"We get out and hide in the bushes. We hide in the houses, and we catch the bad guys," said Stephens.

Stephens often catches the thefts on tape, and he has seen everything from lumber to air conditioners to lawn sod get swiped.

Stephens rolled tape as a new air conditioning system was being delivered to an unsuspecting homeowner. Stephens said it didn't come from a warehouse, but from someone's new house. Stephens later videotaped that same installer and a helper carrying off two air conditioning units from a building site in the middle of the night.

"They install air conditioners during the day. At night they come back, they steal the air conditioners, then they resell them on the weekends," said Stephens.