Rural Land: Emerging Target for Deed Fraud

This land is your land? Well, swindlers have set their sights on land across rural America. They’re impersonating deed holders. Before you know it, they may be taking your land, to make it their land.

If you or someone you know owns rural property—and especially if they don’t live on or near the land—here’s what you must know.

Property Titles at Risk: When the Owners or Heirs Aren’t Looking

Con artists love to encounter elder deed holders and out-of-state owners who don’t tend to visit the land or stay vigilant for any changes to their land records. They also go after paid-off property. Where there isn’t a lender keeping track of the title, land is easier to snatch.

Scammers scour public records to learn who owns what land, and where owners are actually based. Addresses used by tax collectors become cues for sneaky actors. When the owners are away, scammers eagerly stand in for them. A title fraudster might ask a real estate agent to agree to help sell the property. Some just advertise land online as “for sale by owner” homes.

Observant owners in the vicinity might notice “for sale” signs or public listings for resource rights, and track down the targeted land owners. Where no one’s keeping watch, farmland is vulnerable.

The Scammers’ Technology of Choice

As the swindlers go high-tech, are owners of U.S. farmland sitting ducks for out-of-control land grabbers?

Watch out, agents and brokers. According to Washburn law professor Roger A. McEowen, who has spoken with Kansas media, scammers gravitate to particular electronic tools and techniques:

• They could be using Zoom or WhatsApp to send links and distribute listings that will ensnare real estate professionals.

• Scammers from out of state will use extremely realistic government IDs to  deceive notaries, including remote online notaries (RONs).  

• Today, swindlers can use what appear to be legitimate websites and phone numbers. They’ve mastered the art of forging eSignatures and notarizations, and exploiting online document platforms.

• Faking email addresses is a very common tactic. Look out. Instructions via email present known risks! Fraudsters hack into email accounts as a matter of course. Initiate calls to be sure you’re in control. Avoid clicking text or email links.

• Scammers have tools to make it appear as though real agents or title professionals are directing the escrow and settlement processes.

While leading title firms do apply video-based or multi-factor identity checks, and many use advanced anti-fraud software and security-focused remote notary systems, these things are less widespread in the countryside. Many rural offices still rely on traditional methods.

Land Theft by Remote Control

Imposter sellers may work completely online. They’re adept with messaging and eSignatures. Typically, the swindlers know plenty about the owner’s holdings, businesses, and families. These schemes can, and sometimes do, get through closing day and convey the deed.

Often, these people avoid in-person meetings. They avoid regular phone calls or video calls. They tend to want quick action, and they may underprice the land to pass it off quickly.  

Not all con artists are out to transfer the deeds. Some have other ideas. For example, one swindle involves fabricating deeds, or lease agreements with tenants, in order to register land under insurance policies or federal farm programs. Then the impersonators, who often work from afar, direct government funding to their own accounts.

Some rural land owners are getting one step ahead of these people by recording affidavits with their county deed recorders, including their contact details. The statements say the land is not to be transferred without live and in-person verification.

Another precaution involves registering the properties’ addresses with the increasingly available deed fraud alerts systems. Registration, where available, is quick and easy and only takes a visit to the county deed recorder’s website.

How Not to Lose a Deed to Rural Title Theft

If you or someone you know has rural land, take note. Especially if the owner is only occasionally able to visit the land in person. There are precautions that work:

• If you have a distant address, do the local tax assessor and county recorder have all your present contact details? If you can’t be found, then you can’t be easily notified of activity on your land or in your records.  

• Make a habit of looking in on the online real estate websites and checking your address. Be sure your property isn’t “for sale” unless you are selling it.

• Passing details about money transfers should be done in person if possible. Safe alternatives include password-protected portals with multifactor ID verification. Otherwise, be sure to verify directions by initiating a call back to the bank or business over a landline.

• Closing instructions should require live, videotaped verification, or a confirmation by phone via a number taken from, or verified with, the county records. 

• Initiate a video call yourself to avoid AI impersonations.

• If you’re a distant owner, be sure to use a local trust or limited liability company with a local registered agent as the contact.

Owners of farms and rural properties tend to know who owns what in the area. Remote owners should use this reality to their advantage. Be sure to use a buddy system so that other local deed holders can easily track you down if a “for sale” sign or unusual activity occurs on your land.

What an Owner Needs to Do When Title Theft Has Already Happened

Act fast. The faster protective steps are taken, the less likely the title will be transferred yet again—further complicating the path to recovery.

• Inform the title company. To help others, inform all the title companies serving the area.

• Inform the county recorder of deeds’ office.

• Tell the local police. Don’t delete messages related to the scheme. Be sure to save every trace of the manipulation.

• Contact the state attorney general.

• If a real estate agent is involved, contact the agent’s firm.

• Involve a reputable real estate lawyer who’s admitted to the state bar. Ask about recording a public affidavit to show the title is compromised. Anyone who performs a search should be tipped off.

If someone does buy the property off the fraudster’s hands without knowing what’s going on, your state law may consider that transfer void. Nevertheless, the cloud already exists on the title. So the property will be tied up in legal action for months, possibly years in such a scenario.

Important note to our readers: The content of this website is general in nature. It is not financial or legal advice. You must speak with a licensed professional for case-specific guidance.