house stolen, true or false!

[NYlakesider]

I have been seeing those commercials that are making a lot of noise about crooks that manage to change your deed paperwork and put on a few mortgages. It makes it sound like you do not have much recourse.

To me this ad campaign is new as a few months ago and their are a few outfits that say they will protect you. I do see the commercials a couple times a night!

To be honest I'm very skeptical about these things happening and them saying hardly nothing can be done about it

Any of you lawyer people or just the rest of this well informed group have anything to say?

Unless proved other wise I trust that this is just a way for some shyster companies that claim they can protect you just running a big hustle!

 

[eb07]

This video should explain it to you. Yes it's true


Can they steal the title to your home if there is a mortgage on it — LawTube


Steps you can take... yes paying for monitoring is just a lazy man's scam


How to Protect Your Home From Deed Theft | Kiplinger

You could pay for a monitoring service, but why would you? Several companies offer monitoring services, including Home Title Lock, which says it will monitor your home's deed 24/7 to prevent title fraud. The service costs $19.95 monthly ($199 annually, four years for $796). But you can protect yourself — for free — by periodically checking your property record on the website of your county's register of deeds.

 

[arjay]

The old scare the hell out of people then sell them the solution scam ;-)

 

[glenwolde]

I see "stolen property" stories on the news here all the time. It's real.

Accused Houston real estate fraudster connected to dozens of stolen properties caught attempting new deed filing

 

[NYlakesider]

Very interesting! Thanks for the replies.

I can see a much closer watch is now deemed necessary!-

 

[LVSteve]

During the last foreclosure tidal wave in Vegas, the gag in Vegas was to rent out empty, bank-owned properties that you didn't own.

 

[Chuck24]

The part I don't get is what mortgage company is going to give a loan on a house that already has 4 mortgages

 

[sophie]

Simple, no Mortgage, no way to scam you.

 

[crows]

I thought this was going to be about someone actually having their house stolen. A friend from another agency once told about a well known drunk in their town calling to report someone stole his house. They laughed and assumed he was drunk and couldn't find his way home. When he persisted they met him at his residence. Yes he was drunk, and yes, his "house" was gone! Seems his house trailer was repossessed.

 

[Kevin J.]

Our county offers a free service that will notify by email of any liens, changes, or other activity on your property title. Much like my credit card company texts me every time there is a charge.

 

[NYlakesider]

I thought this was going to be about someone actually having their house stolen. A friend from another agency once told about a well known drunk in their town calling to report someone stole his house. They laughed and assumed he was drunk and couldn't find his way home. When he persisted they met him at his residence. Yes he was drunk, and yes, his "house" was gone! Seems his house trailer was repossessed.

Crows, knowing well how topics morph here things could easily go off topic. If anything it makes for interesting reading!

As OP and having seen all those scary commercials for the last few months I thought I would see what the good folks here have to say about this.

Got some good info and hope others did also.

I assume (and you know what that means) that state law might have very updated info for its area.

My house is in trust and I will have a serious talk with my son and going to give our well rated elder care lawyer outfit that set up our trust a call.

 

[greenwellg]

No mortgage going on 33 years. Built two houses and sold them for a huge tax free gain. The Condo where we now live was bought by the wife, wrote a check. Technically I'm homeless .

 

[Denverd0n]

Our county offers a free service that will notify by email of any liens, changes, or other activity on your property title. Much like my credit card company texts me every time there is a charge.

Same thing with my county.

 

[swsig]

Our county offers a free service that will notify by email of any liens, changes, or other activity on your property title. Much like my credit card company texts me every time there is a charge.

In my county in Texas, you can go to the website of the County Clerk and register your home for a Property Alert. It's done through an organization called GovOS, and it's free. Other counties/states may offer similar services, so check with whatever government entity keeps property records for your location to see if they offer anything similar.

 

[67tempest]

Simple, no Mortgage, no way to scam you.

Not exactly true. Plenty of stories of people finding out that a scammer filed a Quit Claim Deed on their home using forged documents and had the property transferred into their name. It can be a real nightmare getting that straightened out.

One of the most high profile case's was where that scammer filed forged documents to get control of Graceland. Scammers are very good at finding way's to separate people from their money and possession's

 

[BAM-BAM]

Not legal advice....... IMHO...if it is happening ..........

They are defrauding the Bank or Morgage company; not you.

 

[ladder13]

In my county in Texas, you can go to the website of the County Clerk and register your home for a Property Alert. It's done through an organization called GovOS, and it's free. Other counties/states may offer similar services, so check with whatever government entity keeps property records for your location to see if they offer anything similar.

Wake County NC, where we live, is supposedly setting up something similar. We shall see.

Deed Fraud, $4M NC home nearly stolen | Fraud alert system to launch for property owners in Wake Co to prevent it - ABC11 Raleigh-Durham

 

[boykinlp]

I see these commercials all the time too. I don't understand how the legal homeowner looses anything. I could see how someone who buys my legally owned house from a scammer could loose money.
Larry

BTW, many times the folks getting scammed are older. I think anyone taking advantage of them should be placed UNDER the jail!

 

[444 Magnum]

Not legal advice....... IMHO...if it is happening ..........

They are defrauding the Bank or Morgage company; not you.

I see these commercials all the time too. I don't understand how the legal homeowner looses anything. I could see how someone who buys my legally owned house from a scammer could loose money.
Larry

BTW, many times the folks getting scammed are older. I think anyone taking advantage of them should be placed UNDER the jail!

^^ This. I'm not an attorney so take it anyway you want, but I think it's like identity theft, credit card and bank fraud...the proof of correct identity is the responsibility of the financial institution.

Having gone through identity theft and bank/credit card fraud twice, it was a major headache and the only loss I had was in my time cleaning it up.

 

[Capt Steve]

A few thoughts...

I spent nearly 20 years in Title insurance as a technician {Tile officer} and a lot of time in management. I taught college classes on Title insurance law and appeared in several trials dealing with forgeries and even did an hour in front of the Grand Jury testifying in a forgery/fraud case. Permit me to share a few things...

If someone forges a deed to your property and then sells or encumbers it by putting a loan against the property it is NOT your problem. No lender is going to loan anyone a dime without a policy of title insurance protecting the lender. That ALTA {American Land Title Association} lenders policy among other protections covers loss due to forgery.

If a lender tries to foreclose on your property based upon a loan that was forged it is the lender's and ultimately their title insurance companies problem. You cannot legally encumber property you do not own.

If a bad guy sells a property that they acquired through a forged deed {of any kind} to an innocent third party again it is not the actual owners problem. If the buyer got an Owners policy of title insurance it too provides coverage against loss due to forgery. If the buyer was foolish enough to not have gotten a policy then they are likely screwed as the actual owner still legally owns the property.

Yes, there are lots of companies out there trying to scam you out of money by offering protection that you in all likelihood already have. Buying this coverage is simply searching for a solution for which there is no known problem... the government does this a lot, but I digress. As noted above many counties offer free title monitoring services which is probably a good idea but not a substitute for an actual policy of title insurance.

In most {but certainly not all} venues the buyers Owners Policy of Title Insurance is typically paid for by the seller which is appropriate. Who better to bear the cost of guarantying the buyers title than the seller. When you are purchasing a home always insist on the buyer providing you with an ALTA Owners policy of title Insurance. But, the cost of title insurance like most things in any business transaction is always negotiateable. NEVER buy real estate without being protected even if you have to bear the cost of the policy.

Full disclosure... i have been out of the title business for 30 years but in that time have purchased/sold a number of properties in California and Arizona. When in doubt seek competent legal advice.

 

[DWalt]

Probably a more serious hazard is a squatter occupying your property if it is unoccupied, for example a vacation home. There are ways to evict them, but it can get complicated. You generally cannot force them to leave at gunpoint. As mentioned above, your county will normally have a recorder who files all land titles, and these days, the records are computerized and accessible by you 24/7. It wouldn't be a bad idea to occasionally access the property records using your computer, just to make sure your property remains recorded in your name and no surprise liens have been filed against it.

 

[JohnRippert]

Our county offers a free service that will notify by email of any liens, changes, or other activity on your property title. Much like my credit card company texts me every time there is a charge.

Same here. It just notified me by email of the 'Transfer on Death' deed that was filed by Mom's estate lawyers. Nice to know it works like it should.

 

[DWalt]

Same here. It just notified me by email of the 'Transfer on Death' deed that was filed by Mom's estate lawyers. Nice to know it works like it should.

Everyone should be aware of a Transfer on Death Deed (TODD) IF your state allows them. It is simple to do, and a lawyer is not required if you follow the state requirements. I have personally prepared three of them. A very clean and neat way to transfer real estate to an heir or heirs without the hassle and expense of probate if you can legally do it in your state.

 

[JohnRippert]

Everyone should be aware of a Transfer on Death Deed (TODD) IF your state allows them. It is simple to do, and a lawyer is not required if you follow the state requirements. I have personally prepared three of them. A very clean and neat way to transfer real estate to an heir or heirs without probate if you can legally do it in your state.

Yes, I did not need to use the lawyers to take care of it, but as much as we paid them to take care of the probate I figured to get as much for the money as possible. They also filled out all the paperwork for my homestead exemption as well.

 

[WCCPHD]

The "Sovereign Citizens" have been doing it for years.

 

[DWalt]

My first TODD was done for my B-I-L on death's doorstep who owned his home in his own name and had no will. I quickly whipped out a TODD to transfer it to his daughter and filed it. I did have to find a Notary Public who would come to the hospital to witness his signature. The daughter then sold the house the regular way. Everything was very easy, probate avoided. My second TODD was under very similar circumstances, but it involved a friend of my wife. Same result, probate avoided.

 

[Jon651]

The county where I live in Central Florida is one of the few in the state where they provide you with the option to immediately be notified of any activity occurring with the title to any house or other real estate that you own. The supposedly notify you within 24 hours of nearly any activity involving change of ownership, liens, new mortgages and etc. This is above and beyond basic requests for information (like looking up past sales prices, current/past ownership, location specifics, and such), which are not reported to you. I signed up online.

Supposedly things can happen without your knowledge, such as someone putting a lien on your home, applying for a second mortgage in your name, or attempting to transfer ownership without you ever knowing about it unless you check for yourself. This goes hand-in-glove with some degree of identity fraud.

 

[NYlakesider]

I spent nearly 20 years in Title insurance as a technician {Tile officer} and a lot of time in management. I taught college classes on Title insurance law and appeared in several trials dealing with forgeries and even did an hour in front of the Grand Jury testifying in a forgery/fraud case. Permit me to share a few things...

If someone forges a deed to your property and then sells or encumbers it by putting a loan against the property it is NOT your problem. No lender is going to loan anyone a dime without a policy of title insurance protecting the lender. That ALTA {American Land Title Association} lenders policy among other protections covers loss due to forgery.

If a lender tries to foreclose on your property based upon a loan that was forged it is the lender's and ultimately their title insurance companies problem. You cannot legally encumber property you do not own.

If a bad guy sells a property that they acquired through a forged deed {of any kind} to an innocent third party again it is not the actual owners problem. If the buyer got an Owners policy of title insurance it too provides coverage against loss due to forgery. If the buyer was foolish enough to not have gotten a policy then they are likely screwed as the actual owner still legally owns the property.

Yes, there are lots of companies out there trying to scam you out of money by offering protection that you in all likelihood already have. Buying this coverage is simply searching for a solution for which there is no known problem... the government does this a lot, but I digress. As noted above many counties offer free title monitoring services which is probably a good idea but not a substitute for an actual policy of title insurance.

In most {but certainly not all} venues the buyers Owners Policy of Title Insurance is typically paid for by the seller which is appropriate. Who better to bear the cost of guarantying the buyers title than the seller. When you are purchasing a home always insist on the buyer providing you with an ALTA Owners policy of title Insurance. But, the cost of title insurance like most things in any business transaction is always negotiateable. NEVER buy real estate without being protected even if you have to bear the cost of the policy.

Full disclosure... i have been out of the title business for 30 years but in that time have purchased/sold a number of properties in California and Arizona. When in doubt seek competent legal advice.

Capt, thank you very much for the well written response. Lots of good info there!


Also a nice thank you to all that responded. So much going on now and so many on the TV selling snake oil!

 

[Telecaster]

Sounds like the scammer would collect a down payment, then disappear since the banks wouldn't proceed on such a deal. So each fake sale could generate tens of thousands of dollars potentially.

 

[djohns6]

What institution would lend money on a property without an inspection of some type and an appraisal ? Mortgages require a Homeowners Insurance policy also . A lot of things have to come together .