Beware of home title fraud in marketplace
The Better Business Bureau of Greater Houston and South Texas is warning homeowners about fraudulent property title transfers, also known as home title fraud.
Home title fraud happens when someone obtains the title to your property and changes ownership from your information to theirs. The scary part is, you may not even realize it until it is too late.
How it works
The scam will usually follow a similar pattern. Scammers will pick a house, sometimes a second home, rental or vacant house. Gathering personal information from the internet or elsewhere, they take over your identity and assume the role of property owner or claim to represent you.
They file the necessary paperwork to transfer ownership of your property to themselves using forged signatures and fraudulent identification.
They then sell the home or borrow against the equity. You might not even know this has happened until a lender starts to send letters of foreclosure on your home due to failure to make payments.
The Better Business Bureau offers the following tips to protect yourself against this scam:
• Be careful with your personal information.
Treat your personal information like the valuable commodity it is. Make sure you shred any documents that have your bank account information, Social Security/Social Insurance number, or other personal information. Be suspicious of any unsolicited communication asking for personal information.
• Check your credit reports regularly for unauthorized inquiries and accounts. In the U.S., you have the right to check your credit report with each of the three major credit bureaus once per year at AnnualCreditReport.com. This is the only free crediting reporting service authorized by the Federal Trade Commission. Space these checks out across the year, and you will know fairly quickly if something is wrong.
• Look for unexplained withdrawals, charges, and accounts. Review your bank account and credit card statements regularly. Look for unfamiliar charges, accounts, or withdrawals. Know when your bills are due; one tip-off for identity theft is when you stop receiving certain bills. This can happen because scammers have changed the address associated with your bank account or credit card. If bills don’t arrive on time, follow up with your creditors.
Debt collectors may call you about debts that aren’t yours. You can also set up automatic alerts on your accounts so you are notified every time a transaction is made.
• Check with your local recorder of deeds. Look for deeds that you or anyone representing you did not prepare or sign, periodically.
Make sure they have the correct mailing address for you. Some counties provide a consumer notification services any time a document is recorded on your property.
Scammers tactics are continually changing and evolving. If you have been the victim a scam or know of someone who has, report it at the site BBBHouston.org/ScamTracker. Your report can help others to avoid falling prey to similar scam tactics.
The Better Business Bureau is an unbiased nonprofit organization that sets and upholds high standards for fair and honest business behavior. Visit www.bbbhouston.org or call 713-868-9500. Leah Napoliello is senior director of Investigative Services with the BBB of Greater Houston and South Texas. Send questions to Leah Napoliello, Better Business Bureau, 1333 West Loop South, Suite 1200, Houston, TX
77027, or e-mail lnapoliello@bbbhou.org. Include your mailing address and phone number.
Home title fraud happens when someone obtains the title to your property and changes ownership from your information to theirs. The scary part is, you may not even realize it until it is too late.