It could soon get tougher for scrap metal thieves to sell their stolen loot to dealers in Massachusetts. A bill that would crack down on copper and other scrap metal theft is on its way to becoming law.

The measure would require scrap metal dealers to register their operations with the state and keep records of what they buy and who they buy it from.

Tony DeGregorio of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors notes that world metal prices are near all-time highs – with copper fetching well more than three dollars a pound on the commodities market. At the same time, foreclosed, vacant properties have proliferated during the recession and its aftermath – and the copper pipes and wiring inside them have become a prime target for thieves.  Degregorio says it's a vicious cycle.

“The down economy and the foreclosures create fertile ground for this kind of problem, and the vandalism itself makes the vacant property problem worse. And once a home gets vandalized it’s harder to get a mortgage on it, and its value goes down and when the value of a home in a neighborhood goes down it starts to pull the whole neighborhood down a little bit.”

In addition to putting sellers and buyers names on the record, the bill would make it illegal for private citizens to sell metals that are obviously not household items, like manhole covers or metal bleachers. And it would create an abandoned property registry to help municipalities track ownership of abandoned properties. Separate House and Senate versions of the bill are expected to be reconciled before the end of the year.