As the calendar flips to a new year and we all focus on what will be different in the new year, one thing that will remain a constant is fraudsters thinking of new ways to obtain the property of unsuspecting victims fraudulently. Real estate and mortgage-related fraud is especially prevalent, and that is not likely to change anytime soon. Anyone who has watched daytime television recently has likely seen scary infomercials about criminals stealing the title to grandma’s home. Yes, while quite rare, “title theft” is a real scheme that is happening, but it is not the only real estate fraud scheme victims have experienced in recent days. Another worrisome scheme involves fraudsters accessing enough of your personal information to allow them to apply for a loan using your home as collateral. Scary stuff, right?!
While a title insurance policy does ensure that the transaction itself, and those that occurred in the past, were not fraudulent, it does not protect against occurrences of fraud that occur after the closing date. However, the good news is there are easy, practical, and, for the most part, free steps you can take that will greatly reduce the chances of a homeowner falling victim to these types of fraud schemes.
- Register for Property Fraud Alerts. Many Florida county property appraisers offices now offer an optional service that provides notification within twenty four hours if any document is recorded in the county using your personal or business name. This is a service that you must register for. If a fraudster tries to record a deed using your name, for example, then at least you will be notified quickly and can then contact the proper authorities, rather than finding out months or even years down the road when it might be too late to take action. In Sarasota County, you can register at https://secure.sarasotaclerk.com/ORFraudAlerts.aspx.
- Freeze Your Credit Reports. An easy and free way to prevent fraudsters from taking out a mortgage, line of credit, credit card, or many other types of credit in your name is to freeze your credit. When you apply for a mortgage or any other type of credit, the company from which you seek the credit will typically run a credit search report to establish your “creditworthiness.” They do this through the three main credit bureaus: Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. All three offer an option to “freeze your credit,” meaning they cannot provide a credit report for you to anyone who asks. Thus, it would be difficult if not impossible to establish your creditworthiness, and the fraudster acting as if they were you would be denied by the company from which the fraudster is seeking credit in your name. It takes only minutes to freeze your credit online, and as mentioned previously is completely free.
- Identity and Property Theft Products. While tips 1 and 2 will go a long way in protecting against common title and mortgage fraud schemes if you are seeking extra protection, there are many products available that take security to another level by offering not only title monitoring services (similar to tip 1), but also restoration services should fraud actually occur. Additionally, services like those offered by DeleteMe (https://joindeleteme.com/) aim to remove your personal information from the internet, so fraudsters do not have the ammo they need even to attempt these schemes.
Perhaps the best advice is never to open any text, email, or other digital message or phone call in which you are not certain who the person sending the message or call is. By simply clicking on a text or email, you may be granting fraudsters access to enough of your personal information for them to pose as you and cause the damage described above or worse. So be vigilant, follow the steps above, and rest easy that you are protecting yourself and your property.
If you have any questions about these tips for real estate fraud, please do not hesitate to reach out to your local real estate attorneys.
