Your House Is About To Be Photographed

Huge database aims to include photo of every Tucson house
By Erica Meltzer
arizona daily star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 02.06.2007
advertisementPhotographers from a Canadian company are going house to house, shooting pictures of the roughly 300,000 houses in metropolitan Tucson.
It's part of an effort to photograph and appraise every house in the country, creating a database that can be sold to banks and insurance companies.
While the city attorney says the activity is perfectly legal, it has officials and some residents concerned about privacy rights.
And real estate agents, to whom the company hopes to market the information and pictures, question the value of the database.
Representatives of Zaio Corp. — the letters stand for "zone appraisal and imaging operations" — say the information will help loans get processed faster, ultimately benefiting consumers.
"In America, it takes seven days to get a residential appraisal and seven weeks to get a commercial appraisal," said Thomas Inserra, Zaio's chief executive officer. "Our company is the first in the world to apply state-of-the-art production technology to appraisals. Our goal is to produce an appraisal before they are actually needed."
Jo Ann Larsen, who confronted a photographer outside her Southeast Side home, said: "I know it's legal, but I don't think they should be able to put it on a Web site and make money off it without your permission. I get enough junk on a daily basis without this. I don't want any easier access into my life by anybody."
Zaio was formed in 2004 and already has completed appraisals in Spokane, Wash., and in Mesa. Inserra said the company is starting work in 170 cities this month, including Tucson.
He said most people don't have a problem with it, and even many gated developments have given photographers access. In Mesa, Zaio received about a dozen complaints.
"Once people hear the details of what we're doing, they aren't concerned," Inserra said. "People also need to realize that satellites have been taking pictures of their houses for 20 to 30 years, and those images are available online."
Tucson City Attorney Mike Rankin said the photographers and appraisers are in the clear as long as they stay off private property.
"People are very protective of their privacy rights, and they have every right to be," Rankin said. "But if they are using the information in the way they say, it shouldn't be harmful."
A pamphlet that photographers give to residents who question their activities says first responders, such as police and firefighters, could save "precious seconds" if they "can look for a house that matches the photo on the computer screen rather than trying to find an address number that may or may not be visible from the street."
However, Rankin wants residents to know the city didn't request the information and won't be using it.
The company handout goes on to say the images "may also be used by real estate, appraisal assessment, insurance and lending institutions."
Andy Squire, an aide to City Councilwoman Shirley Scott, called the emergency-first-responder statement disingenuous.
"The paper made it sound like they're doing it for law enforcement, when in reality they're doing it for sales and marketing," said Squire, who received several calls about the company.
Inserra said he doesn't think Zaio's claims are misleading.
"How can it be disingenuous if we disclose it? If we were trying to trick people, we wouldn't include the second part at all," he said.
Squire said company officials should "publicize that they're doing this, so it's not so much of a surprise, be honest about it and provide citizens who don't want to be part of it with an option other than the Internet to opt out."
The pamphlet tells homeowners who want their dwellings' data removed to go to Zaio's Web site, where they must provide an e-mail address to complete the process.
Councilwoman Karin Uhlich said consumer advocacy may be the best way to get the company to change its practices, and she urged any constituents concerned about it to contact Zaio directly.
Tucson appraiser Ricardo Small sees the venture as a threat to appraisers, though he wouldn't object to having his own home included. He said information from an exterior appraisal can be plenty for a bank that is evaluating a home-equity loan.
But Mike Waling, owner of Casas Adobes Realty and president of the Tucson Association of Realtors, questioned the value of the database.
"Every home is a little different," he said. "It's like asking, What's the value of a '95 Chevy?' There is no way of knowing without looking at it."
Jean Osment, who lives near the University of Arizona, said she doesn't have a problem with the project because anyone can use Google Earth to look into her backyard.
But Jo Reis said she hopes her gated community on the Southeast Side doesn't let the photographers in.
"You live in a gated community because you like your privacy," she said. "That's one of the reasons we chose it."
Asked whether homeowners should opt out, Waling asked why they would opt in.
"I wouldn't know what advantage it would have to people to stay in it," he said. "Why should they have my information? Of course, I come from a generation that worried about Big Brother."
Search the homes-sold database to find the going prices for houses in different areas of the city at www.azstarnet.com/homes

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Zaio is in the process of photographing and appraising each and every property in cities across the country. That means every house, commercial building, industrial and institutional structure is being photographed and appraised property-by-property and street-by-street. We call this historic event “Photographing America.” The resulting database of images and valuations is called “GeoPic,” and is a useful resource for real estate, mortgage and insurance industries. The photographs are also an effective aid to police, fire and ambulance dispatching. Zaio has developed proprietary software and systems to continuously maintain and update the database as properties change and redevelopment occurs. Each photo is individually framed to strict GeoPic standards and photos are generally taken during summer months when landscaping is in full color. The database grows over time as updates constantly improve upon prior releases.

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