Tag: Title Fraud
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Where Does Your County Recorder Stand on Deed Fraud?
Deed theft? Mortgage fraud? Yes, they’re among the country’s fastest-growing white-collar crimes. It keeps getting easier for swindlers to create and record bogus documents that manipulate real estate ownership and financing. Allen County, Indiana, Recorder Nicole Keesling spoke out this year about the public trust that comes with being elected to the role. At national…
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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…
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In Pittsburgh, a Title Agent Finds Dozens of Local Deed Thefts
Title agent Kelsey Green got a call from a client who hoped to refinance. But somehow, without the client’s knowing, the deed to the Pittsburgh home had been stealthily transferred. Since then, the title agent has found 35 cases of deed theft. All have occurred in Pittsburgh’s South Side neighborhoods. Allegheny County records show deed…
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Are You Ready for Arizona’s New Deed Fraud Law?
A 2026 law has changed the game for deed fraud in Arizona. The law is now just weeks from taking effect for Arizona deed transfers. Are you ready? The new law targets two steps in a property transfer: Two Republican lawmakers worked in tandem to make sure this bill got the fast-track treatment. Arizona Senator…
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Deed Theft News: Brooklyn Case Shows Why Facts Matter
It’s called deed theft, title fraud, house stealing, or title piracy. At its simplest, it involves the recording of a deed or other property document that appears to transfer ownership without the true owner’s permission. In some cases, criminals forge signatures, impersonate owners, or use false identities to record documents that appear valid on their…
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NYC Opens First Office to Fight Deed Theft
It is the city’s first office dedicated to deed theft prevention. Mayor Zohran Mamdani has just formed the Mayor’s Office of Deed Theft Prevention for New York City. What’s deed theft? It’s the taking of a home by shady paperwork. The culprits falsify deeds and notarizations. Then they record the falsified documents. Additional forms of…
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The Best Laws Against Deed Theft: How Does Your State Rank?
For those concerned about where deed theft is taken most seriously under the laws, the data security firm EquityProtect has the facts. The company’s new Property Protection Scorecard sums up the current status of each of the 50 states and Washington, DC. The equityprotect.com/scorecard webpage ranks states using five tiers. Tier 1 shows the…
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Title Thieves Are Robbing the Dickens Out of Homeowners
Richard Helbig is a 75-year-old retired home renovator. Now, Helbig is back to work—as a dishwasher. What happened? He lived in his four-bedroom home in North Carolina for 16 years. He redid the kitchen and bathrooms. He paid off the home loan and accumulated $200K+ in equity. But a couple of title pirates took it…
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Operation Hard Money: How a Team of Mortgage Scammers Exploited Los Angeles Seniors Through Title Fraud
The FBI recently arrested 11 people in Los Angeles. The investigation involved people who went after more than $17 million in deed theft, say prosecutors. To get that money, they repeatedly attempted financial fraud. The swindlers allegedly took over the titles to their victims’ homes so they could exploit them for loan collateral. Older adults…
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Next? Rhode Island Is Now Proposing a Law to Stop Impersonators From Recording Deeds
A new law has been introduced in Rhode Island. If enacted, it will require anyone recording a deed to show government-issued photo ID. County officials would gain the authority to delay recording, or report a suspicious document to law enforcement. The point? To deter would-be fraudsters attempting to take over people’s properties. Deed theft typically…
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Texas Says Time’s Up for Deed Hustlers
A wave of real estate scams has prompted action by Texas lawmakers. Real estate theft and fraud are now in the criminal code. Naming deed crimes is part of a growing trend that you might recall from a series of articles we’ve offered on New York’s new law, naming “deed theft” as a crime category.…
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End Deed Fraud! Florida Tests ID Rule, California Requires Alerts
Real estate prices keep rising. A home title is increasingly valuable. For people who specialize in deed fraud, deed records might as well be pots of gold. These smooth operators are on the lookout for properties they can control, sell, or use to obtain loan or rent money. What happened to the days when a…
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Sell a Home You Don’t Own? Here’s How They Do It in Scottsdale
Here’s a true story about seller impersonation that landed in the news during the first week of 2026. The story starts with an owner of a home in Arizona getting an alert from the local deed recorder’s office of Maricopa County. Uh oh. The recorder’s office was notifying the deed holder that the title to…
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The Sting: Arizona Real Estate Agent Calls the Cops, Derails Deed Fraud
A fast-acting real estate pro helped nab the suspected perpetrator of a deed theft against a senior. John Rowan, a Scottsdale real estate agent and investor, got a call from a stranger whose friend reportedly inherited a home and wanted to sell it as-is. Rowan went to check out the Phoenix-area home. A landscaper present…
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AG James Nails First Criminal Conviction Under NY Home Equity Theft Protection Act
Recently, a New York real estate agent pleaded guilty in a deed theft case. Yes, a real estate agent. Oscar Dais used to be a real estate agent in Rockland County, New York. But no more. Oscar Dais admitted to a property theft that involved falsely signing a deed to his own company, while pretending…
