A Utah homeowner says she has spent months dealing with a steady stream of calls, text messages and cash offers from strangers trying to buy a house she has never put up for sale, and the unwanted attention has become so persistent that even her adult children have been contacted.
KSL News Utah reporter Matt Gephardt looked into the situation after West Haven resident Kelly Stone said someone was reaching out to her at least once a day about buying her home. Stone told KSL the house is not for sale, has never been for sale, and she has no intention of leaving.
“Somebody is calling me at least once a day, dude, to try to buy my house,” Stone said.
Her plans for the property could hardly be clearer.
“I plan to die in this house, and then I’m going to haunt it after I die,” she joked.
The Calls Spread Beyond The Homeowners
What started as unwanted contact directed at Stone and her husband eventually widened to include other members of the family.
“And then it wasn’t just me and my husband,” Stone told Gephardt. “They were also contacting our adult children.”
That detail makes the situation feel more intrusive than an ordinary sales pitch. A random call is easy enough to dismiss, but when strangers appear to know who your relatives are and begin reaching out to them as well, it can understandably leave a homeowner wondering where all that information came from.
Stone said she is not behind on payments, and there was no obvious event that would explain why buyers suddenly began targeting her property.
“I get irritated,” she said. “Honestly, it’s an uncomfortable feeling when you keep getting these calls on a daily basis.”
Gephardt took that question to Leigh Veillette, director of the Utah Division of Real Estate, who said Stone probably did not do anything herself to end up on a list.
Public Records And Data Brokers Can Build A Profile
Veillette explained that would-be buyers can combine information from public county property records with data purchased from commercial data brokers.
Those databases may contain phone numbers, email addresses and even family connections, allowing investors or wholesalers to build detailed contact lists without ever speaking to the homeowner first.
“I think they’re casting a very wide net, hoping that they are able to capture at least some folks who might be interested,” Veillette said.
That helps explain why someone with no plans to sell can suddenly begin receiving repeated offers. Investors do not necessarily need evidence that a property is distressed or that the owner wants out; in some cases, they may simply contact large numbers of people and wait for a few to respond.
It is an efficient strategy for the buyer, but from the homeowner’s side it can feel much more personal than it really is. The calls may be generated from broad databases, yet the person answering the phone experiences them one at a time, often over and over again.
Not Every Cash Offer Is A Scam
Gephardt also asked whether homeowners should assume these calls are fraudulent.
Veillette said no.
Wholesaling real estate, investing in property and making unsolicited cash offers can all be legal in Utah. The fact that somebody contacts a homeowner out of nowhere does not automatically make the offer a scam.
Still, Veillette urged homeowners to be careful, particularly if the caller refuses to provide basic information about who they are or whether they hold any required license.
“A legitimate business is not going to be afraid to identify themselves to you,” she said.
That is a useful dividing line. An unsolicited offer may be legal, but a homeowner still has every reason to ask who is calling, what company they represent and why they are interested in the property before providing any personal or financial information.
Stone’s case is less about whether somebody has a legal right to make an offer and more about what happens when the same kind of offer keeps coming after the homeowner has made clear that the answer is no.
Blocking Numbers May Not Solve It
Unfortunately for homeowners hoping for a simple fix, blocking individual callers may accomplish very little.
“Blocking the number doesn’t necessarily make it stop because some of these folks are using a wide variety of different telephone numbers,” Veillette told KSL.
That means a homeowner can block one number only to receive another call from a different line later.
Stone has gone even further by placing two “No Soliciting” signs at her front door, yet the calls and texts have continued.
“Honestly, the biggest thing that I would hope is that it would stop,” she said.
The repeated use of different phone numbers is especially frustrating because most of the tools people normally use against unwanted calls are built around identifying and blocking a specific caller. When the number keeps changing, the homeowner is left fighting a moving target.
The Do Not Call List Has A Catch
The federal Do Not Call Registry might seem like the obvious answer, but Gephardt found that there is an important complication.
The registry is mainly designed to restrict telemarketing calls in which companies are trying to sell goods or services to consumers.
These real-estate callers are doing the opposite. They are trying to buy something from the homeowner.
Because of that distinction, Veillette explained that the federal protections people normally associate with the Do Not Call list may not apply in the same way.
That creates an odd loophole for homeowners. Someone may have taken the time to register a number specifically to avoid unwanted marketing calls, yet repeated offers to purchase their home can fall into a different category.
From a consumer’s point of view, the distinction may feel technical. Whether somebody is trying to sell you a product or repeatedly persuade you to sell them your house, the interruption can feel exactly the same when the phone keeps ringing.
Utah Officials Say Some Calls May Cross A Line
Gephardt also spoke with an attorney for the Utah Division of Consumer Protection about what homeowners can do when businesses continue reaching out after being told to stop.
The attorney said the agency wants to hear from consumers in those situations.
According to the KSL report, businesses that continue calling after a homeowner has clearly asked them to stop may be violating Utah consumer protection laws.
That does not mean every unwanted cash offer is illegal, but it does give homeowners another possible avenue when the contact becomes persistent.
Veillette’s advice also suggests that homeowners should pay close attention to who is contacting them and whether the caller is willing to identify the company behind the offer. Keeping records of repeated contacts could also become important if a complaint is eventually made.
For Stone, however, the desired outcome is much simpler.
She does not want a better offer, a different buyer or another explanation for why strangers found her phone number.
She simply wants people to believe her when she says the house is not for sale.
Ed spent his childhood in the backwoods of Maine, where harsh winters taught him the value of survival skills. With a background in bushcraft and off-grid living, Ed has honed his expertise in fire-making, hunting, and wild foraging. He writes from personal experience, sharing practical tips and hands-on techniques to thrive in any outdoor environment. Whether it’s primitive camping or full-scale survival, Ed’s advice is grounded in real-life challenges.
