CBL EP 151 Maria Perez PT 2 Wrong Address, Right To Come Home

I n This Episode, We Cover:

• The Maria Perez case recap
  • What happened the day of the shooting
  • Why this hits so close to home for cleaning business owners
  • New updates: charges filed, bond amount, fines, and legal direction so far
• Worker classification & liability (W-2 vs 1099)
  • How your employment structure impacts safety requirements
  • Why 1099 cleaners should carry their own insurance
  • How liability, general liability, workers’ comp, and bonding come into play
  • Why “it’s just my husband and I” or “we’re a small team” is not protection
• Safety protocols every cleaning business needs NOW
  • Standardized arrival protocols: knock, announce, ring, then unlock
  • Using photos of the property (from walkthroughs or Zillow/online listings)
  • Address verification: house number, street name, cross streets, and landmarks
  • Mandatory check-in systems (Slack, text, Life360, Jobber, etc.)
  • Locking the door after entry for both residential and commercial cleans
• Technology & tools for safer operations
  • How CRMs like Jobber help with mapping, address validation, and notes
  • Using photos, notes, and face recognition tools to help homeowners identify who’s arriving
  • Why documentation isn’t just “nice to have” – it’s part of your risk management
• Violence in the workplace & legal obligations
  • Jamie’s California requirements: violence in the workplace safety meetings & logs
  • Why safety meetings, sign-offs, and written protocols matter
  • How to build a simple but effective safety log your team actually uses
• Real-life stories from the field
  • Wrong address scares and how they were resolved
  • Walking in on guests or homeowners unexpectedly
  • The emotional toll of these close calls and why they must be taken seriously
• Industry-wide implications
  • Why this

Chapters

• 0:00 Tempo: 120.0

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:52

And today's episode of Cleaning Business Life is a hard but important lesson. We're talking about the tragic killing of Maria Perez, mama for a professional cleaner who was shot through a homeowner's front door when arriving at the wrong address. This could have been any one of us or any of our texts. Today we are breaking down what happened, what we've learned since the tragic incident on November 5th, and the safety protocols specifically for our industry. What kind of insurance arrival systems you must put in place to protect your team, your company, and your clients going forward. Let's dive in.

SPEAKER_01: 1:37

Part two. And I'm but you can say her name. Go ahead. It's Maria.

SPEAKER_00: 1:50

So we're just going to go by her first name and her very last name. And it's Maria Perez, the poor woman who was standing on someone's stoop or porch, trying to get into the house that she thought she was cleaning, and she was shot to death by the homeowner who didn't look out the windows in his door of his home. There's been some updates for that. Yes. And for those of you who are not familiar with the story, do you want to go ahead or you want me to do it?

SPEAKER_01: 2:16

Yeah, no, I think most of you people out here in the cleaning business industry are familiar with this, unless you have been having your nose to the grindstone, making your business run. However, we we did a part one, and if you go back and listen, I don't know, it's maybe I think episode 196, one, or 168, something like that. Um this part two is letting you guys know that he has finally been formally charged. The man that shot Maria Perez. It's taken these people a long while to finally get the whole month. I don't understand what happened. And we wanted to, I've also wanted I wanted to clear up some rumors that we heard about he was possibly law enforcement. He is not, in fact, any sort of law enforcement, maybe has some ties or something, but he did get charged with voluntary manslaughter in Indiana.

SPEAKER_00: 3:27

Let's give them a little bit of a backstory so that in case you're just popping on here trying to figure out what we're talking about. So on November 5th of 2025, Maria Perez, the mother of four and professional cleaner, arrived at the wrong address for a scheduled clean in Whitestown, Indiana. Her husband was her teammate on this job. When she attempted to enter what she believed was the correct home, homeowner, his name is Kurt. He's been named now because for a while there he wasn't. Kurt Anderson fired a shot through the front door without verifying who was outside. The bullet struck Maria, killing her instantly. I believe he struck her in the chest. They have not have it in the head. Is it in the head? Okay, I don't think it's confirmed or denied. Anderson has since been charged and released on a$25,000 bond, which I think is pretty small, in my opinion.$25,000, huh? And then he was fined an additional$10,000. The case is attracting national attention due to the intersection of worker safety, homeowner fear responses, conflicting self-defense interpretation. So there are some unresolved details. Um, one of the biggest ones I want to know, because inquiring minds want to know. I want to know because they said that she was a part of a cleaning team for a cleaning company. I want to know the name of that cleaning company.

SPEAKER_01: 4:50

I believe it was just them.

SPEAKER_00: 4:52

Okay, so they were operating individually. Because if it was just the husband team. Okay, so they were operating as an independent entity in the state of Indiana. They didn't work for because I was under the impression they were working, either they were subcontracted out or they were W-2, which leaves a whole can of worms for the rest of us here of underneath the umbrellaship of an actual business.

SPEAKER_01: 5:16

Yeah, well, yeah, at the end of the day, that just was but they didn't deny it either, right?

SPEAKER_00: 5:21

Uh yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 5:23

It just baffles me that they, you know, had anything like this happening. And this is just, we wanted to come in here, make sure that we gave an update and let you know that there are like certain protocol, safety protocols. You gotta stay safe out there, ladies and gentlemen. You have to and especially if like Shannon was just saying, if this was a company, me as a company, something say it's something like that happened here, and it would we, you know, I would love to know what my this made me pause and think, what do I need to implement for my for my cleaning text? What do you guys need to implement, even as a solo cleaner, you guys? Even as solo cleaners, what do you guys need to implement into your business?

SPEAKER_00: 6:22

And these details will matter because employment classification directly impacts required safety training, liability responsibility, insurance coverage, general liability, workmen's comp bond, and protocol expectations. So those are four biggies when you're thinking about if I'm gonna do W-2 or 1099, how you handle getting inside someone's home. And this gap highlights a major issue for the industry. Cleaners often operate without standardized protections and tragedies, expose these cracks. We all talked about the lady who unfortunately lost her life on a post-construction cleaning. I believe that happened in 2023. I don't recall what state that was, but she went to clean by herself. Someone went on the work site and took her life. It was it was awful. So having safety protocols in place are very, very important. And how you handle them, depending on if you have 1099s and W-2s, is entirely different. And there are some safety implications for the cleaning industry, I believe, going forward. Wrong address instance are more common than reported. So this poor individual, how she got shot, was she went up to this house, what she thought. I mean, I guess you could hypothetically, and this is just speculation for all the legal entities. If Google Maps or whatever map system was had the address labeled incorrectly, would they be liable for this mess? Right.

SPEAKER_01: 7:53

I'm sure there's a lot of digging going on. Right.

SPEAKER_00: 7:56

We're trying, we're all trying to figure this out.

SPEAKER_01: 7:57

We have a survivor, we have a survivor that was right there. I'd be interested. This will probably be the last update that we do. You guys can probably go on and and uh it's just and see it all over on the internet, especially in the cleaning business, in the cleaning world right now. Right.

SPEAKER_00: 8:20

A lot of influencers are posting and right, and it says homeowners are increasingly nervous andor reactive. Everybody's testy. You guys have all heard me on my soapbox when you have to let someone go, do and you don't operate in an office, do it in a public place. You just don't know what that individual is going through. Don't endanger yourself or your family by terminating someone in your house and having it go the wrong way. And right raising self-defense anxieties, cleaners entering homes face higher risks. This is actually the first incident that I can think of in my 15 years in this industry where this has happened. Have you recollected anything, Jamie?

SPEAKER_01: 9:00

Nothing, nothing like this. I I do see the uh the question being asked. Have you ever accidentally went in the wrong home? And you have I've actually seen a couple funny videos of somebody like uh there's this guy that cleaned the wrong house, but ended up getting the the that person as a client.

SPEAKER_00: 9:23

Oh you froze.

SPEAKER_01: 9:24

Um yeah, so you know, you do see maybe frozen.

SPEAKER_00: 9:35

Oh, the internet is unstable. Okay, here, let's stop the recording. I'm gonna reboot my internet and then we'll pick back up and I'll just feed these guys together because I love doing extra work.

SPEAKER_01: 9:48

Oh, we can just carry on. Is it working?

SPEAKER_00: 9:51

Is it working hard?

SPEAKER_01: 9:52

Okay, I've never even seen anything on my end.

SPEAKER_00: 9:55

Okay, if it happens again, then I'll have to turn it on.

SPEAKER_01: 9:59

So, yeah. So we wanted to just jump on here. I have seen a little instance of people going and cleaning, but is that real or not? You know, is that just done for clicks? Is that true? So, yeah, remember you as we did an episode on this, like cleaning, right? But to actually have a homeowner actually shoot and kill somebody through a door, I want to have all her stuff over the cleaning lady, right?

SPEAKER_00: 10:36

That's awful, and then the cleaning industry lacks standardized arrival protocols, and we have some here that we're gonna address for you. Most companies rely on informal practices rather than documenting safety steps. So, we're gonna go over what that's like for an individual now, considering the unfortunate demise of Maria Perez. I think that even if you have the keys and you have the key code, you should knock first. And it should be, I know it's convenient because everybody has a ring camera. You just push the button, it goes ding, ding, ding. And then I think that you should push the button and maybe knock, or just knock first and then push the button. You need to make whoever's inside there aware that you are on the front door. And someone gets some people will get a little testy. Why'd you ring the doorbell twice? Well, I didn't get an answer.

SPEAKER_01: 11:20

It's like the door is open and aha, it's cute. I always make it funny. I my cleaning text always make it funny.

SPEAKER_00: 11:29

And then I think terrible announcement after unlocking the door and first stepping on in on the threshold is also good practice. You guys have all heard me talk about. I don't know why I always get these people, but they get we have mostly a senior base and they get a little frisky on the couch, and you never want that burned in your brain. And the reason why I'm bringing that up is because I want you to remember to announce that you were there. Housekeeping. Anybody home? Just checking out, you know, housekeeping, housekeeping. I've actually back in the day cleaned a commercial account and the silent alarm went off. I thought I pushed in the right code. Well, I guess I didn't. And then the police showed up and there I was like in handcuffs on the ground while they decide in my uniform, while they deciphered if I was trying to break in or not. I'm like, yeah, I'm breaking into claim, buddy.

SPEAKER_01: 12:26

Well, I mean, you know, I guess they were just really diligent with their job, right?

SPEAKER_00: 12:31

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01: 12:32

Well, I wish they would have been a good idea. Yeah, really wish they would have been a little diligent about this, their job here.

SPEAKER_00: 12:41

Because you could do bake broker, you don't have to announce housekeeping, you could do above all cleaning, and then a mandatory Slack check-in. You could do this, it's one extra step, which could be considered a nuance, you know. But you could text could send you over in Slack or uh, you know, text message, hey, I've arrived on site. That's all they have to do. It doesn't have to be a long conversation. You have Life 360, so you can see where your girls are at all the time. If your budget allows it, then I would totally do it. So they can check in with an address, a time, knocked, and announced confirmation, or a follow-up check-in is required once inside. Especially if you're a short-term rental. I've walked in on short-term rentals a couple of times where we thought it was empty, and a guy comes out of the shower and he's naked, and you're like, Oh my god, why are you here?

SPEAKER_01: 13:36

Remember that one day? Remember that day I called you? Yes. And um, I charged for the whole clean. You know, I'm not ready yet. Just charge whatever you want. Right.

SPEAKER_00: 13:47

Get out.

SPEAKER_01: 13:50

Thankfully, we can laugh about those incidences, but you just know, but in the in the moment at the time, you just want to die.

SPEAKER_00: 13:58

But and then if you're not, and this has nothing to do with entry, but it also has to do with safety. Once your cleaning techs arrive on site, they should immediately lock the door, whether that's commercial or residential. You just never know who can walk in. And we live in a little we live in some crazy times right now. So make sure that they're locking the door for safety. And then address verification. Thank God for Jabber, it actually keys in with maps for the most part. Make sure that they're double checking the house number, the street name, the cross street of the landmarks through your photo for first-time cleanings. If you have it, sometimes you can get the photo right off the internet, sometimes it requires a drive-by.

unknown: 14:39

Click.

SPEAKER_00: 14:40

Yeah. Yeah. Um screen documentation, accountability, and safety for both the cleaning tech and the client.

SPEAKER_01: 14:52

Yeah. Yeah. And um, this is just update, part two on Maria Perez. That you know Kurt Anderson has finally been arrested. And we hear in this great state of California that it's a great place to run a business at. And if you see my face, I'm totally joking. It's one of the hardest.

SPEAKER_00: 15:19

You got the big eyes in case you're watching.

SPEAKER_01: 15:21

So we have a safety data not for safety meeting sheets that we have to buy. It's called Violence in the World Workplace. It's a long an analogy. What is it called?

SPEAKER_00: 15:38

Whenever it's I think it's violence in the workplace for there's it, there's an acronym for it, and I can't.

SPEAKER_01: 15:45

There it is. Oh, I can't. Yeah, we have violence about it. That we have to, hey, how you guys doing? Okay, and then one is for safety, and I have every you gotta have kind of like a log. So it stays in the office, and here I tell them here, sign this. You know, there's times whenever I'll take everybody out to eat for lunch, as many of us that I can get together at once, and we talk about stuff, and I have them sign that piece of paper.

SPEAKER_00: 16:20

Safety, definitely, and for those of you who are not old enough to remember this, the reason why we started to have to have safety protocols is way back when in the 80s the very first workplace violent act happened, and it was at the U.S. Postal Service. And you can imagine how awful it was to work for them that someone wanted to. Yeah, and it was awful. We were like all like mortified, it was on sick. It just felt so sick to your stomach.

SPEAKER_01: 16:49

Definitely lived in Colorado at the time of Columbine, stuff like that. Yeah, not very far from where that happened. Yeah, very tragic, and this is a tragic event, and we're trying to help you guys prevent something like this happening to you. I I have donated to this family. I don't, I have my heart goes out to the this is just because it you know how I feel about the cleaning industry. You know, it's very, very close to home. And it just, gosh, I can't imagine her husband, her poor husband was there, and we just need to start putting in some safety protocols. That's the day and age that we live in now. And Jabber is great for doing that. So get your guys' jobber and get it up and get it implemented, and you'll see all the great features that it can that it can do for you.

SPEAKER_00: 17:58

So this is gonna be this tragic event is gonna be a turning point for the cleaning industry. You're gonna you're gonna have to implement arriving protocols on site, you're gonna have to document worker safety procedures, just like Jamie mentioned in her annual or not annual, monthly. I don't remember if it's monthly or quarterly safety meeting. She's required to by the state of California. Um, and then you're gonna have to clarify entry expectations for homeowners. That would be something that you would just some little blurb that this is how we typically arrive. They even have the technology now that you could load in the cleaning text face so they can see who is arriving now. I mean, we've come a long ways with Jabber in the last 10 years, and then prioritize address verification systems, and then of course, training your texts on verbal and on-site communication. So just a little check-in, just to kind of settle your mind. When I have cleaning texts go way beyond what we normally clean in an area, I actually make the homeowner snap a photo of their driver's license front and back. Because if something goes down, unfortunately, I want to have recourse of where to send the police to and who they should look for in case, God forbid something happened. I never, ever, ever knock on wood, want to go through that. But you've got to think ahead on what is best for your cleaning tax and what is best for your business. Right.

SPEAKER_01: 19:23

Right. I couldn't agree anymore. So, yeah. And that's that is our update, right?

SPEAKER_00: 19:31

Right. And then Maria's death should never have happened. A wrong address should never cost a life. As an industry, we own it to every cleaner to build a system that is full of safety, stronger protocols, and a culture of prevention. I'm reading from my notes because it's really early in the morning here. This is a moment to stand up and do better. Rest in peace, Maria Perez. I hope you get the justice you deserve. Yes.

SPEAKER_01: 19:57

Bye.