Stealing a house (Title Theft)?

Question

I've been seeing ads on TV and hearing them on podcasts discussing the dangers of having your house literally stolen by means of "deed fraud". Supposedly, a scammer successfully impersonates you, forges documents and either steals equity with a home equity loan or sells your house out from under you.

Of course, the ad is selling something called "Title Lock" where for $14.99/month, they offer some sort of protection.

Maybe I'm naive, but this seems highly unlikely. In fact, it seems like something a clever marketer came up with to scare people into buying a remedy for a problem that doesn't actually exist.

Has anybody here ever seen or heard of this actually happening to someone?

Suzanne Player · Answer

@Maria Bakaj In case you haven't heard about this, property owners can Sign up for title fraud alerts in many parts of the country now, for example in Denver Colorado: https://denvergov.org/Governme... @Charlie MacPhersonThis isn’t a brand new thread but I wanted to post on it because it’s a continuing problem that can have devastating consequences I was so alarmed at how easy it can be for this to happen that I just posted an article on deed fraud & what are some red flags to look for It contains some links to check your property & register your property for fraud alerts with the clerk's office’s in various parts of the country https://www.biggerpockets.com/member-blogs/14776/98707-is-your-property-at-risk-for-title-fraud-how-to-protect-yourself

Steve K. · Answer

I'm interested in a Title Lock subscription. I'm going to ask them if they can protect the deed on my property in Venezuela. Sounds about as fishy as no meat on Fridays.

Peter Walther · Answer

I don't know what you mean by deed fraud but title to your property cannot be stolen. At worst, as I wrote above, the title can be clouded. Now you can be tricked or fraudulently induced into signing a deed, but in that case you have actually signed a deed. That's not a forgery and creates a whole different set of problems, especially if the Grantee of the deed conveys an interest to a bona fide third party.

Damaso Bautista · Answer

@Charlie MacPhersonThe stealing of property is real. Call your nearest large police department and ask to speak to a fraud detective. Ask them all the questions you want about deed fraud. It happens all the time. Now it can be resolved through a long investigation and fact finding and can be undone, but the process to get your property back is long and hard and the our court system and law enforcement is not set up to just kick whoever has your property our or the tenants that are squatting out immediately, so it in essence further victimizes you the real owner as the process draws out. I don't that that title lock is a gimmick, it is just another insurance that you can elect to buy or not.

Peter Walther · Answer

According to Title Lock's home page this is what they provide for your monthly subscription:Home Title Lock is a Monitoring & Alert service. We provide three key services to our customers: Monitoring & Alerts: We monitor the title of your property 24/7. When new documents are recorded that affect your property value or ownership we will alert you of the change. Guidance & Documents in the Case of Fraud: If potential fraud does occur, you are not alone, our team of experts are here to help you navigate the situation. Filing the Affidavit & Notice of False Filing will alert industry professionals that there is potential fraud. Comprehensive Title Report - FREE: We provide a free title history report (a $100 value) with sign up, which allows you to see past activity on your property and learn if you’re already a victim of title fraud.Title to your property can't be stolen by a forged deed or mortgage but it can be clouded. It's rare but it does happen. If you check with the Clerk of the Court, Registrar of Deeds or whatever government agency is responsible for recording property related documents in the county where your property is you may find they already provide a similar notification service at no cost. At the very least they should be able to tell you how to check their records for anything recorded related to your property, probably online. I'd do that before spending money on a service that you probably will never need.

Maria Bakaj · Answer

@Charlie MacPherson If you google "new homeowner kicked out of house 19 months Denver", there's a 9 news article out there that would be of interest to you that is related to this topic. However, the title dispute described in that article does not appear to be related to any sort of larger organization, but rather just an individual and a series of mis-handlings and very unfortunate events- really it's a total nightmare situation. The 'title lock' you are describing seems like a scam. I wouldn't trust anything that is not coming from a title company or attorney. I haven't heard of the large scam either. What Podcasts are you hearing ads for this on?