{"id":2788,"date":"2023-02-15T09:16:43","date_gmt":"2023-02-15T14:16:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/?p=2788"},"modified":"2024-04-25T23:18:09","modified_gmt":"2024-04-26T03:18:09","slug":"199-check-from-county-deed-records-recognize-home-warranty-renewal-scams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/199-check-from-county-deed-records-recognize-home-warranty-renewal-scams\/","title":{"rendered":"$199 Check From \u201cCounty Deed Records\u201d? Recognize Home Warranty Renewal Scams"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Frauds and fakers commonly target homeowners for money. In one of the sleaziest schemes going on at the moment, a home warranty vendor is trying to get homeowners to sign up for its product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s worse, the marketing letters don\u2019t look like sales materials. They look like they come from the local recorder of deeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Counties in numerous states are warning their residents about these unsolicited and deceptive letters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Manipulative Home Warranty Letters Use Facts About the Titles From the County Records<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The letters contain something resembling a check for $199, called a Registration Fee Voucher. Attached are so-called final notices from Home Warranty Direct, announcing that the recipients\u2019 home warranties are expiring. The notice instructs recipients to call a number or be held responsible for repair costs. It\u2019s just an underhanded marketing ploy, and has zero to do with homeowners\u2019 actual warranty plans or the status of their home titles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One reason the scam can seem believable, notes the Sedgwick County D.A. in Kansas, is that these letters include real data about the homeowners\u2019 titles. Pulling from the public deed records, the letters include the homeowner\u2019s name and address. They also name the home\u2019s mortgage company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The letters (here\u2019s an image, courtesy of the Witchita Eagle<\/em><\/a>) are not connected in any way to a government entity, but obviously they aim to bamboozle recipients into believing they are. They have nothing to do with the homeowner\u2019s actual mortgage company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Homeowners in many states have received similar letters. Oregon\u2019s state Attorney General, Ellen Rosenblum, has issued a statement about this letter<\/a> urging Oregon homeowners to buy warranties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Look Out for \u201cUrgent\u201d or Menacing Language in Letters <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Officials warn against answering letters written in oddly high-pressure tones. Oregon\u2019s state Department of Justice has complaint forms, and urges recipients to lodge formal complaints against scammers. The county D.A. office has a Consumer Protection Division which recipients of the $199 letters are asked to call. States also have consumer protection departments. Call them<\/em> to discuss pressure sales tactics \u2014 not the marketers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What if you\u2019re not sure the communication you have received is legit or not?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Look for signs of a good business, or the absence of those signs. Is it easy or hard to find an agent of the company you can call or write to? If the company makes it hard to get through to customer service, watch out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u261b<\/em> <\/em>Use special caution with emails and text messages. Avoid clicking on links in any communication you didn\u2019t initiate or were not expecting. As a rule, it\u2019s best to call a company if you want to communicate, rather than clicking through a message.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Look at the company\u2019s website. Do a search for customer reviews. Dig up the experiences of others who have dealt with the business and have submitted claims. If it\u2019s hard to find details about the business and its customers\u2019 experiences, why? Is the company authorized to operate in your state? Is the marketing material clear as to the company\u2019s location and identity?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t submit personal or financial information if you have any doubts about who is contacting you, and exactly what they are after.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is the Home Warranty Business Inherently Shady? No\u2026<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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There are home warranty businesses with poor reputations, making false promises and taking advantage of their customers. And there are decent home warranty companies out there. In some situations it\u2019s not a bad idea to ask for home warranty coverage as a buyer \u2014 especially if the home has a number of old appliances. So, buyers need access to insights that sort the devious from the decent vendors. This is one of the best reasons to enlist an experience real estate agent in a home purchase.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quick note:<\/em><\/strong> Home warranties are not the same as homeowner\u2019s insurance. A homeowners\u2019 insurance policy is geared to cover big incidents that can impact the home\u2019s value. A home warranty, in contrast, is simply a service contract. It focuses on the home\u2019s appliances and systems, such as the HVAC, the kitchen and laundry appliances, the water heater, and possibly electric and plumbing issues, etc. Home warranties provide fixes (if possible) or replacement (more rarely) when the machines break down in the normal course of use and age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, how do these plans work? Unless the seller offers the warranty as part of the purchase agreement, a homeowner pays a monthly or yearly premium, and the service fee whenever a technician is called to the home. A typical home warranty plan will pay up to two or three thousand dollars for a technician\u2019s visit and the repair or replacement of an appliance or system. The fee for the visit is generally around $100 or $125. Problematic businesses have hidden deductibles and give customers the runaround in response to reasonable claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While home warranties can come in handy for buyers of older homes, even the good ones have hard limits:<\/p>\n\n\n\n