By Rod Davis, CEO BBB serving Southeast Florida and the Caribbean

Like most of you, I have seen the advertisement on TV offering protection against Title Theft, sometimes also called Deed Theft. It made me wonder, is that really possible? Unfortunately, a little research shows that while it is not a concern for most consumers, the FBI reported almost 12,000 cases of alleged real estate fraud in 2019 involving $221 million. 

Let’s look at what happens when a scammer attempts to steal your title to gain access to your equity. Scammers will choose a house, sometimes a second home, rental or vacant house. They then gather your personal information from the internet or elsewhere, and take over your identity to assume the role of property owner or claim to represent you. They file the necessary paperwork to transfer ownership of your property to themselves, using forged signatures and fake identification. They then sell the home or borrow against the equity.  You might not even know this has happened until a lender starts to send letters of foreclosure on your home due to failure to make payments.

Here are three steps to protect your home.  

Step 1: A good first step is to use good practices to limit access to your personal information.  Treat your personal information like the valuable commodity it is. Make sure you shred any documents that have your bank account information, Social Security/Social Insurance number, or other personal information. Be suspicious of any unsolicited communication asking for personal information. 

Most information a scammer needs is also stored on your computer or other devices you use to access your bank and pay bills.

Step 2: You may want to implement a credit freeze. A credit freeze will not permit anyone, including yourself, to open a new line of credit or obtain a new loan.  Once you freeze your credit reports, opening new credit will require some advanced planning. You’ll need to request a temporary “thaw” with all three credit bureaus to allow lenders to access your reports. The entire online thaw request process for all three bureaus should take about twenty minutes, and your reports can be set to automatically re-freeze on a date you select.

Credit freezes and thaws are now free for all consumers, based on a federal law passed in 2018.

You’ll need to hold on to your login credentials with each bureau to thaw your reports. A lost PIN or user ID can be difficult and time consuming to retrieve. Protect your login information with each bureau as you would your birth certificate or other important documents. 

Step 3: The last recommendation to stay ahead of the scammers is to sign up with the applicable government agency responsible for processing titles/deeds in your county.  Palm Beach County and Broward County permit you to sign up for a notification if there is a change to your title/deed.  To reduce deed fraud in Miami-Dade, the Clerk of the Court Recorder sends a courtesy letter to the property owner whenever a Quit Claim Deed is recorded with the office.  For more information on the process in these counties just go to the applicable link for your county.

If an act is taken on your property’s title without your knowledge, the alert will enable you to take quick action to address the problem.   File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, along with filing reports with local law enforcement and the FBI. Also, place a “fraud alert” or “freeze” on your credit reports and notify all credit grantors and financial institutions. Find out if there is any unauthorized activity or new accounts that have been fraudulently opened in your name. You may be advised to close some or all of your accounts. Create new passwords and change your PINs.