As the market cools, marketing ploys for all sorts of reasons keep cropping up. Private developers are [barring registered sex offenders from purchasing properties within their developments [USAToday]](http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20060616/a_sexoffenders16.art.htm).

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want a sexual predator as a neighbor and don’t mind the rules, but to openly incorporate this into a marketing strategy when selling homes seems wrong because it paints a false sense of security:

_The sex offender deal has improved demand. It’s probably increased our sales three to four times,” says I&S partner Clayton Isom, 24. “We’re fighting sex offenders head on._

Really? 3-4 times?

>The restrictions may give a false sense of security, because they do not bar offenders from traveling into a prohibited area, says Carolyn Atwell-Davis of the [National Center for Missing & Exploited Children](http://www.missingkids.com/). The private group prefers better tracking of offenders, workplace restrictions and increased penalties for non-registration.

>The bans focus on strangers, but parents need to understand that 80% of offenders know their victims, says John La Fond, author of [Preventing Sexual Violence: How Society Should Cope With Sex Offenders [Amazon]](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591471729/sr=8-1/qid=1151317076/ref=sr_1_1/104-1345117-4442353?ie=UTF8).

[How how one developer set up enforcement [Kansas City Star]](http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/14804143.htm):

* The homeowners’ association enforces the sex-offender restrictions.
* The developers conduct background checks, which can cost as much as $200 a family.
* If someone in the household is a registered sex offender, the deal ends.
* The restrictions don’t apply to people who’ve left the sex-offender registry. People who have other crimes on their records will not be affected.
* If a homeowner becomes a registered offender after moving in, the association imposes a fine of at least $1,000 a day until the offender moves out.
* To collect the money, a lien can be put on the property.