Title theft, will mechanics lien prevent this?

[James Sebastian]

So I was listening to a Seeing Greene podcast today (OK, I'm a few behind) and there was a discussion of title theft, then liens were mentioned later...  Would it be possible to file a mechanic's lien on your own property and would this be a way to discourage potential title thieves?

[Chris Seveney]

@James Sebastian

You cannot illegal file a lien. A mechanics lien also has a very short life cycle in most instances as many are filed but never make it to finish line.

Title insurance is the best way to avoid title theft which you may hear about on the news but it is not this rampant thing going around. Yes it happens but it’s not very common

[Peter Walther]

Quote from @Chris Seveney:

@James Sebastian

You cannot illegal file a lien. A mechanics lien also has a very short life cycle in most instances as many are filed but never make it to finish line.

Title insurance is the best way to avoid title theft which you may hear about on the news but it is not this rampant thing going around. Yes it happens but it’s not very common

Title insurance generally operates retrospectively, that is, it indemnifies against covered losses caused by things that occurred before the insured took title, not after. There are some extended form policies that might cover a future forged deed, but they cost extra and since title fraud (not theft since you can't lose title based on a forged deed) is uncommon, they're not issued frequently. My advice is contact the clerk of the court for the county where the property is located and ask if they've established a system to notify registered owners when an instrument which purports to affect title to an owner's property the owner is notified.

FRAUD ALERT NOTIFICATION (FAN) SYSTEM (mcohio.org)