{"id":3964,"date":"2024-04-24T06:51:58","date_gmt":"2024-04-24T10:51:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/?p=3964"},"modified":"2024-06-16T10:21:57","modified_gmt":"2024-06-16T14:21:57","slug":"now-theyre-holding-titles-for-ransom-heres-how-real-estate-scammers-target-floridians-and-the-rest-of-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/now-theyre-holding-titles-for-ransom-heres-how-real-estate-scammers-target-floridians-and-the-rest-of-us\/","title":{"rendered":"Now They\u2019re Holding Titles for Ransom? Here\u2019s How Real Estate Scammers Target Floridians (and the Rest of Us)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

St. Johns County, which includes St. Augustine Beach, has plenty of attractive real estate. Just beware the trickster who holds a deed for ransom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the seniors who lives in St. Johns sounded the alarm. Some shady firm told her to pay $20K to get her title back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a trend in which local \u201cinvestment companies\u201d (or run-of-the-mill fraud rings) take the title of a home hostage, for a payoff. Now, St. Johns County officials are warning the public about these real estate ransoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

How Did the Deed Get Held Up?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The senior was thinking of selling her St. Augustine home. On Facebook\u2019s marketplace, she found an investment company willing to buy it. The company would sell her home to a buyer for a $350K asking price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then came the series of prospective buyers who didn\u2019t come through. Yet an email alert arrived from the County Clerk\u2019s Fraud Alert system. A lien now burdened the title, involving an option to purchase the home.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She can\u2019t sell the home now. And the broker demanded $20,000 to release the title. As reported by investigative journalists at News4JA, she\u2019s taken the business to court. But while she awaits justice, her rights in her own home are on hold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In North Florida, a Ploy That\u2019s All Too Common<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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In St. Johns County and other areas of northern Florida, deed fraud is all too common. Sometimes the culprits are shady brokers in the area. In other cases, it\u2019s an international fraud ring who takes control of a title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wouldn\u2019t the county recording personnel get suspicious? They might. But even so, they can\u2019t press. As long as a deed or other document meets all the procedural requirements for recording, the office must record it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As noted in our section above, at least St. Johns County deed holders can get fraud alert messages when a document is recorded on their deeds. Deed holders need to sign up for the title fraud alert service<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some U.S. counties are <\/strong><\/em>assigning more power<\/em><\/strong><\/a> to employees of recording offices to avert fraud.<\/strong><\/em><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
And did we mention that renters are constant targets for manipulation as well?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shocked Jacksonville Resident\u2019s Home Appears on Rental Site<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The same northeast Florida news team that reported on the senior fraud victim had just last year reported on a trend in which brokers advertised rentals and took deposit money. The supposed rental homes are theirs. Often they aren\u2019t even vacant. And the owners get a real surprise when people show up to take tours or move in. That\u2019s when minds start racing and panic sets in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Could the innocent homeowner be accused of taking part in a crime?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What does an owner do if someone shows up with a full U-Haul truck?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A potential renter showed up to take a look at a Jacksonville home. The owner was taken aback. She\u2019d never listed her home on the market. But the bamboozled house hunters found the home listed for rent on the internet. They say the supposed homeowner claimed to have moved out of state, leaving the place ready to rent. The whole story was a sham.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The real owner noted that the scammer set a very attractive price \u2014 significantly lower than the going rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Making these scams even more pervasive, websites share rental listings across the board. So, a listing on one platform turns up on others. Sites like Zumper<\/em>, Realtor.com\u00ae<\/em> and Motovo<\/em> may all post the same listings \u2014 and now and then, a listing is not legit. This is exactly what happened in the Jacksonville homeowner\u2019s case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBoth Realtor.com<\/em> and Motovo<\/em> display listings from Zumper<\/em>,\u201d reports WJXT News4JAX<\/em>, and Zumper listings are seen by millions of rental home seekers. Bad actors also like using Craigslist and various social media platforms to take advantage of hopeful renters. The schemes can be elaborate, with pictures of staged rooms (that aren\u2019t actually taken in the homes listed). The scammers tell the hopeful renter to send funds. They tell their targets that a payment is required before the hopeful renters may tour or reserve a property.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then the scammers pocket those funds. They have no intention of meeting the people who send them money. It\u2019s typical for everything to happen remotely, and for the swindlers to pretend to be out of the state or the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eventually, these listing sites catch on and they remove the suspicious postings. But by the time they do, unsuspecting people\u2019s lives can already be thrown into chaos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Federal Trade Commission is aware of bogus listing scams. The agency says scam artists tell hopeful renters to wire deposits (a red flag!). Swindlers might demand upfront deposits and rentals payments before a lease has been signed with the owner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why Do We Fall for Scams?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s easy to lay blame on the victim in these situations. And yet every day, reasonable and careful people fall for bogus ads and shady brokers. As a matter of fact, overconfidence \u2014 the thought that it can\u2019t happen to us \u2014 makes us more vulnerable to scams, research shows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Plus, there\u2019s the emotional context and the competitive urgency involved in wanting to make a home deal. When stakes are high, we can have difficulty with rational thought and information processing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many perfectly successful people are also impulsive people or risk-takers. We need to know ourselves, and be ready to pause and carry out extra diligence when that feels hardest to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Real estate deals involve some of our highest hopes. As targets, we have less information than the one doing the manipulating. After all, how many times in our lives do we buy or sell or start a rental agreement? For most of us, such transactions are few and far between. It\u2019s really not surprising that systematic scammers can spin effective webs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We work to raise awareness about this, because it\u2019s easier to see a swindle coming when people know how targets get pulled in. Awareness could be the most important protection we have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another form of protection, of course, is to work with a good real estate agent<\/a>. That goes for sellers, buyers, and renters alike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Supporting References<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anne Maxwell with the I-TEAM for WJXT News4JAX<\/em>, via News4JAX.com<\/em>, published by Graham Media Group: \u201cFlabbergasted\u201d: Jacksonville Homeowner Says She Learned Her House Was Listed for Rent After Someone Came to Look at It<\/a> (Mar. 1, 2023).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tarik Minor with the I-TEAM for WJXT News4JAX<\/em>, via News4JAX.com<\/em>, published by Graham Media Group: St. Johns County Woman Says Investment Company Demands $20K to Release Home Title Back to Her Possession<\/a> (Mar. 7, 2024; updated Mar. 8, 2024).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kris Lindahl for Kris Lindahl Real Estate: Scams and Misleading Tactics in Real Estate: Tips for Protecting Home Buyers, Sellers, Owners, and Renters<\/a> (Oct. 19, 2022).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
David McMillin for Bankrate.com:<\/em> Five Common Real Estate Scams, and How to Protect Yourself \u2013 Fake Listings and Rental Scams<\/a> (Jul. 25, 2023).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DBS Bank Ltd Co. via DBS.com<\/em>: Dear Victim: Understanding the Psychology Behind Scams<\/a> (Jun. 14, 2022).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And as linked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More on topics: <\/strong>Deed-stealing Florida broker<\/a>, Fake documents transfer dead Floridians\u2019 deeds<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Photo credits: NARA & DVIDS Public Domain Media<\/a>; and Michael Rivera<\/a>, CC-BY-SA 4.0 Int\u2019l, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
St. Johns County, which includes St. Augustine Beach, has plenty of attractive real estate. Just beware the trickster who holds a deed for ransom. One of the seniors who lives in St. Johns sounded the alarm. Some shady firm told her to pay $20K to get her title back. It\u2019s a trend in which local […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3965,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119,72],"tags":[214,232,221,1202,1200,1344,1345,267,1343,1346,1203],"class_list":["post-3964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-deed-fraud","category-florida","tag-deed-fraud","tag-deed-theft","tag-florida","tag-fraud-alert-system","tag-homeowner-protection","tag-investment-scams","tag-real-estate-news","tag-real-estate-scams","tag-rental-fraud","tag-st-johns-county","tag-title-fraud"],"yoast_head":"\nNow They\u2019re Holding Titles for Ransom? 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