No, that’s wrong! In fact, deed fraud is running wild and is very prevalent across the country. Here in Arizona, the cases of deed fraud are mounting daily.

So, first question. What is Deed Fraud?

These are cases where criminals pose as the rightful owner of a property, and then attempt to sell the property and gain the proceeds. They are often successful once they gain specific information about the owner, through hacking services on the owner’s email accounts on their devices. Citizens are victims of hacking every day, and real estate agents are the easy targets for the criminals. Once the criminals get access to your devices through hacking, they will see every email, every text (smartphone) stored passwords, downloaded documents (such as a rental application or client information application). Thus, the criminals have access to any and every detail that is contained within those files.

That process alone can be very damaging to the agent as well their clients. Once the criminals are successful in accessing websites, accounts, and information on the parties, they will go to the next step; attempt to sell the property that is often identified in email communications found on a hacked device.

The owner is often totally unaware that the fraud has occurred for months or even years. Imagine waking one morning and learn that you no longer own your house. Or vacant land. Or commercial investment property.


Next Question, what can we do to try and prevent it?

Every county recorder in Arizona has a prevention program. For Maricopa County, here is the link to post your addresses and names that would be found on recorded documents in the county files.

https://recorder.maricopa.gov/MaricopaTitleAlert/Default

By registering, any time anything is done regarding that deed, the county will alert the deeded owner that action is being taken against their property. If the owner takes proper, quick action before title is transferred, the criminal act could be stopped. However, once title transfers, there is very little that can be done, other than making a claim on the title insurance in place on the property.


Lastly, the American Land Title Association has produced a useful tool to explain deed fraud, how it occurs and the actions to take to prevent it.

Here is the link to that tool, which I gathered from The Arizona Realtors website.

https://www.aaronline.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/06/ALTA-Seller-Impersonation-Handout.pdf

While no action is 100% effective to stop this criminal activity, any steps you can take, and share with your clients will go a long way to prevent this occurring. Diligence and vigilance is the key, and by simply registering your names and addresses, that goes a long way. While it will not stop the attempt to defraud you, it will provide notice that something wrong is going on so that it can be caught ASAP!