I’ve been seeing ads that this has become more and more common. Someone use your home for collateral on a lone and somehow takes ownership. How is that possible? How would it stand up in court?
Nope never stayed at Holiday Inn Express so I need splainin.

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Who are those guys?

I found this.

What Is Home Title Fraud? - Experian

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Life Is A Gift. Defend it!

It would be very hard to do but the rewards can be high for the crooks and a lot of old people are fairly trusting to people requesting information so they are usually the thief's main target.

I don't know about other states, but Maryland has on-line access to the land records. From the comfort of your living room, you can see if anyone has forged and recorded a deed purporting to transfer the title to your real property, which is the start of home title theft. If something like this happens, run, don't walk to an attorney who is knowledgeable about land titles and can take the steps to prevent further damage.

Who ends up holding the bag ? I would think it would be the purchaser of the property or the new lien holder, since it was a fraudulent transaction. Maybe one of the many attorney members will weigh in here. I hear the ads and it sounds like an insurance scam to me on the part of the protection they are trying to sell. They act like if someone steals the title to your house and sells it you lose your house. That doesn't sound right. If you purchase a stolen car and the original owner comes forward they still own it. The buyer is the one that is taking the loss. Am I off base here ? Sounds like a fear tactic to sell more ID theft insurance / prevention products.

The gag here for a while was renting empty houses that didn't belong to you. The vast numbers of foreclosed homes here meant that sometimes it was months before the duped renter was discovered.

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Release the Kraken

That’s what I was thinking. Online search says it’s rare. If so, this is an answer in search of a problem.

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Who are those guys?

One ounce of prevention is to check if your county displays recorded deeds and mortgages online. Search for your property or name and see what the recent activity is. If there is something you do not recognize or it looks fishy, hire a pro to spend an hour figuring out what’s up.

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Buy American
Vote Responsibly

that whole commercial is bull **** my friend runs a title company it might be a bigger scam than the car warranty commercial they play every 15 min. and don't forget the home warranty scam they run. old mr barnum was right

If you don't have a mortgage with the bank having a lean on your property, this is easier to have happen than you might think. It is something that is happening out there. Title Shield works, but if you have a mortgage chances are it will not happen. It is amazing how easy it can be to get to view your deed in most states.

Bob

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Sag Harbor & Manhattan, N.Y.

I know what you are saying, most areas are going on-line. I am wondering what difference being able to view on-line makes ?

When a bank lends a stranger money against the title to your house and says that it is your fault.

Again, I don’t see how this can be allowed to happen. If the bank doesn’t do their due diligence and loans money to a fraud how can the victim be left holding the bag and basically told tough ****!

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Who are those guys?

In the county I live in I am able to register with the Recorder of Deeds and receive an instant notification of any title changes.

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John. SWCA #1586

I just check my credit scores on line with the bank's I do business with.
They give me detailed info such as recent searches, inquiries, etc.
I feel very secure doing just that.

In the end they can't. You're the victim.
But just like any other form of identity theft, cleaning it up and proving that someone else committed the fraud can be a royal pain. That is what you are buying insurance against - just like LifeLock etc.

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Send lawyers, guns & money...

A variation on identity theft. Takes a little bit of research (property owners names, preferably SSN and other data), then apply for an easy refinance mortgage or second mortgage, close the deal and disappear. Even easier now that you can do a mortgage loan completely on-line, have the cash sent by bank transfer. Much easier for an unscrupulous family member with access to the owner's records and information, but a lot of families have one or more of those slime-balls these days.

I remember back in the troubled financial times of the late 1970's, lots of VA and FHA repo houses. Big signs in front offering the property for sale, kind of a cute warning that the FBI investigated any crime on the property (like they had nothing else to do). Scammers would pose as real estate agents, have a locksmith re-key the locks, take down all the signs, offer the houses for rent. Victim would pony up the first month's rent and security deposit, move in, have the utilities turned on, then within a few weeks would find themselves back on the street while the scammer spent their money somewhere else.

If there is a way to reach into your pocket someone is working on getting it done, every day and everywhere.

The credit bureaus also allow you to lock or freeze your credit reports to block unwanted inquiries. I am blessed not to have found it necessary to apply for any credit the past several years so I did that. I have also placed all my major assets, property, automobile, bank accounts and anything of significant value into a revocable living trust on the advice of my estate planning attorney. It should avoid probate and adds another level of security I am told. My properties are registered as TOD, transfer on death, to my children to make it as easy as possible when I am gone.

I would advise everyone to consult an estate planning attorney if possible. Having gone through two probates with family members it is not pleasant.

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John. SWCA #1586

It would work by telling you that somebody forged your signature on a deed that you didn't know about, recorded the fake deed and then the grantee on the fake deed took out a mortgage. The mortgage probably would not show up on your credit report because it wasn't taken out in your name.

The thief/fake purchaser would probably be the one taking out the mortgage, not an innocent purchaser. The lender would probably end up making a claim under its lender's title insurance policy, so the title insurance company would be on the hook to the lender. After absconding with the loan proceeds, the thief probably would not be filing any claim under an owner's title insurance policy

If you check the online land records and find a fraudulent deed, in addition to notifying law enforcement, get hold of an experienced attorney who understands land titles so that the land records can be dealt with to declare that the deed allegedly signed by you may be a forgery.

Duplicate post.

I have held most everything inside a revocable trust for more than 30 years, just now getting it updated. EVERYONE should be aware of the benefits of a TOD Deed for real property, if your state allows it, whether or not you think you need it (99% of you probably do). It completely eliminates probate for real property in the event of the title holder's death, preserves step-up valuation, and takes precedence over a will. It is very simple, and you really do not need a lawyer to do it. It is just a matter of filling out a fairly simple form, having it notarized, and filing it for record in the county of your residence. Unfortunately, not all states provide for a TOD Deed. Believe me, you never want to go through probate if it can be avoided, and setting up a Revocable Trust, filing a TOD Deed, and holding all securities and bank accounts as JTWROS will do that. Regarding vehicles, the simplest thing to do is to SIGN YOUR TITLE, as if you are selling it. That way, your survivors can usually sell or transfer your vehicle upon your death without the nuisance of getting a muniment of title. Of course different states do things differently, but it is usually simple to find out what your state law requirements are.

Last year I had a problem with one of the banks I use. I always balance my check books before I sit down and pay bills. As I tried to balance one account one day I found I was almost $7,000 short. Two items were fraudulent. One was a Check made out for $4,900.00. It was TOTALLY OBVIOUS that the signature was not mine, but it was actually the next numbered check in my check register, so someone hacked my account, photoshoped a check with the next number and wrote a check and cashed it.

The second was a $2.000.00 Payment to TJM. Looks like TJ Max right? Wrong, bogus.

First thing I asked the local bank manager was, "Don't I have a signature card electronically in my file? Aren't those checked?" The answer I got was that for amounts under $5,000.00 they do not check.

I got all $6,900.00 back - SIX WEEKS LATER.

I am a real estate agent in New York City and The Hamptons. Title theft has happened out here and I recently even took a Continuing Education Course on it. Even if you can make a bank liable, you can expect to go through a long period and hassle and possibly a lot of legal expenses to make it write.

I now have Premium Life Lock with Norton as well as Title Lock.

Bob

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Sag Harbor & Manhattan, N.Y.

Please excuse drift. I keep getting email, texts, and post cards from "buyers" wanting to purchase my property in the hot real estate market in Colorado Springs. Seems a little iffy to me, so these get round filed. I don't answer the phone, but probably there, too. I wouldn't mind selling one rental, but ... but seems like an invitation to fraud?

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Some collect art; I shoot it!

Call me a doubter, but I cannot envision a scenario where someone unknowingly loses their home without multiple parties commiting fraud without the owner's knowledge, immunizing him from any claim. Some foolhardy lender might get stuck holding a bad loan, but the owner has no liability for something he didn't do while identity thieves commited forgery, wire fraud or God knows what else.

In the news here a lady was transferred to Tinker Air Force Base and saw a house for rent on Craigslist she was interested in. She drove over to the house and liked the looks of it and called the owner and he gave her the details but said he was out of town taking care of his sick mother. She wanted to look inside the house but he said she could go in the back yard and look through the windows, which she did. She asked if the rent was negotiable and he said not usually but in this case he needed money for his mothers hospital bills and if she could pay three months rent up front he would give her a great deal. She agreed and he emailed her the lease and she sent him a check and he told her to pick up the key from a certain real estate office. You guessed it, the house wasn't even his.

All great advice, but I'd add that about 20 states offer Transfer on Death beneficiary provisions for automobiles. For those living in states that allow it, that might be the easiest, safest, and quickest way to transfer ownership of an auto to someone after you checkout. Bypasses probate of course. Just Google your state name, transfer on death automobile and see if your state has the provisions for it.

Most of what is being discussed here simply does not happen and if it does having Title Insurance will be an easy solution. For the record I spent nearly 20 years in the Title insurance business and taught classes in Title Insurance law. Permit me to share a few facts...

No institutional lender on earth will loan you {or anyone else for that matter} a dime without obtaining a Title Insurance policy that the borrower pays for. Accordingly NEVER loan anyone a dime of your hard earned money supposedly secured by their property with getting a Title Insurance policy to protect that loan.

As far as someone forging a deed and doing nefarious things without your knowledge once again Title Insurance will protect you and here is how it works. In most venues the seller pays for the buyers "Owners Policy" which is written to match the sales price. This practice discourages fools from opting to skip getting TI to save a few bucks however everything is negotiable but trust me folks DO NOT EVER buy real estate without TI.

First of all it guarantees your title, that among many other things there are no undisclosed liens {loans, Tax liens pending litigation etc.} and that the folks that are selling do in fact own the property.

To accomplish this the Title company does a title search and issues a preliminary report which states the complete condition of title. They search not only the public records of the property but of all the individuals involved.
The buyer gets to review and typically approve the title report which is effectively a blueprint for the policy to title insurance to be issued at the close of escrow.

The policy provides coverage against errors in the public records, any undisclosed liens or claims and FORGERY! Should any of these items {among others} come back to haunt you the TI policy will pay for the defense of your title pursuant to the terms of the policy... you really should read your policy by the way}.

As a consumer product Title Insurance is unique... not only does it protect what for most of us is the single largest investment we ever make but it increases in value as your property generally does by way of automatic inflation coverage {be sure to insist on this coverage though it is usually built right in}.

Title Insurance for all practical purposes is free... yep, as noted the seller typically pays for the buyers policy but if you get a loan you, the borrower, will pay that cost as it is for your benefit. Here's another unique feature... an owners policy of Title Insurance is good forever in that the benefits pass to your heirs when you die again with no additional premiums applicable.

In my career I went to court on a number of fraud and forgery cases, even spent an hour testifying in front of the Grand Jury in one particularly nasty forgery case. I have been out of the Title Insurance business for 26 years but have done a number of real estate transactions over that period and believe the above information to still current and relevant in todays world.

You're welcome.