Officials said the Maricopa County Records Department has launched a new warning system to combat an increase in fraudulent schemes to sell homes from property owners.
The new system, which has been in the works since last summer, comes just months after a new state law was passed that would require all Arizona counties to have similar services by 2025. The bill was sponsored by Arizona Senator Wendy Rogers. Republican Flagstaff told his fellow lawmakers that using such a system to notify homeowners would be “easy” and “win-win.”
A warning for property owners would join Maricopa County in a national jurisdiction aimed at combating a rise in rights theft nationally, but it’s all about electronic filing and desperate buyers getting too many. Asking less questions is made easier than ever by a tight real estate market.
It will be the third Arizona county to do so, after Pinal and Yavapai counties. Both counties began offering opt-in notices to property owners before the new law was passed.
Here’s what you need to know about the new alarm system and deed fraud in Maricopa County, Arizona.
How does title theft work?
Home ownership means legal ownership of real property. By forging home deeds, fraudsters can illegally transfer ownership of a home to their own name and claim that they own it.
That way, you can sell your home for cash before the buyer discovers the scam. Alternatively, a loan may be taken out against a property that cannot be repaid, leaving the actual homeowner and the lender in financial turmoil.
How common is title theft?
Maricopa County Recording Director Leslie Hoffman said she began noticing an increase in rights lawsuits about five years ago.
“People are getting smarter and thinking of different ways to make money,” she said.
In 2018, a man was arrested after authorities said he forged the deeds of dozens of homes that had been foreclosed or owned by deceased or elderly people, including 13 in Maricopa County.
2021, Scottsdale police arrest 30-year-old California man charged with burglary After an Arizona woman realized her late father owned a house that was no longer in her father’s name, the house was sold to Zillow, who later signed the deed, according to Arizona family reports. was returned to the deceased man’s family.
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And last year, the Arizona Attorney General’s Office issued a warning to homeowners After investigators noticed a “disturbing trend” of dozens of rights theft complaints from across the state.
Hoffman said that in Arizona, county registrars have a statutory duty to record documents submitted with the required fields filled in and properly paid for.
County assessors are tasked with transferring ownership in response to newly recorded deeds, and their staff usually verify whether the grantor’s name on the deed matches the name of the property owner. confirm. But they typically don’t analyze document signatures or call homeowners directly to determine whether a deed is fraudulent, Hoffman said.
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This makes it difficult to stop property theft unless the homeowner notices fraudulent documents at the time of filing and takes prompt corrective action.
“The sooner you know, the sooner you can take action before you get a foreclosure notice, or before someone knocks on your door and says, ‘Oh, I bought this house,'” Hoffman said. “The villain will be caught soon.”
Am I in danger?
According to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, title fraud is most commonly seen when:
- empty house.
- Homes owned by businesses or individuals residing outside of Arizona.
- Rental property.
- A home owned by a recently deceased person.
Fraud is less likely if the homeowner lives in the house full-time and has a mortgage, officials said.
How Does Maricopa County’s New Title Alert System Work?
The new system will allow homeowners to choose to be alerted whenever a document with their name is recorded, Hoffman said.
To sign up, homeowners must create an account at. Maricopa County Registrar’s Office Website Please use a valid email address. Then you can enter a personal name or company name to track. By subscribing to the system, you will receive an email notification and a link to view a PDF of the document each time one of these names appears in a newly recorded document.
Maricopa County built the new system in-house rather than paying for pre-designed services. This means it has some security features not found in other county systems, such as requiring email verification when users register for alerts, Hoffman said.
The system is free for everyone and has no limit on the number of names that can be tracked on a single account, so homeowners can add name variations and track multiple individuals at the same time, Hoffman said. Stated.
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Homeowners can only track first and last names, excluding middle initials, she said. However, the system sends her only one email notification per day with all new documents that triggered the alert, so homeowners with common names don’t get regular notifications .
And even in Maricopa County, Mr. and Mrs. John Smith and Mrs. Jane Douss, the documentary record is not constant, Hoffman said.
“Our IT department did some research and used John Smith and a more common name,” she said. “And they said, ‘Oh my God, eight from the beginning of the year.'”
What is the system like in other prefectures?
The Pinal and Yavapai County title warning systems are also free to residents and work similarly to the one available in Maricopa County.
Pinal County’s title alert system will launch in 2021 and has approximately 3,840 subscribers. The population of this county he exceeds 450,000 and is growing rapidly. Residents can subscribe to alerts in the following ways: Pinal County Registrar’s Office.
The Yavapai County system, which started in December 2019, has approximately 2,540 subscribers. About 250,000 people live in this county. Homeowners can subscribe to alerts in the following ways: Yavapai County Registrar’s Office.
State law requires all counties to begin offering similar systems by January 1, 2025.
What are other ways to prevent title theft?
According to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, property owners who live in counties that do not currently offer a title warning system should regularly check their county records and assessor’s website to ensure the information about their homes is accurate. It is necessary to confirm that
What if I am a victim?
Hoffman said homeowners who believe they may have been victims of deed forgery should immediately contact local police.
Officers work with county records officers to obtain copies of fraudulent documents and other evidence such as video footage and credit card details. In many cases, they partner with the Arizona Attorney General’s office to investigate and prosecute cases.
“We’re trying to give them as much information as possible so they can do a thorough investigation,” Hoffman said.
Homeowners may also be required to provide documentation proving that documents previously recorded in their name were fraudulent and hire an attorney to sort out the legal and financial details. .
Sasha Hapka covers regional issues in Maricopa County, Pinal County, and the Republic of Arizona.Do you have any tips for her to share?Contact her sasha.hupka@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on Twitter: @SashaHupka.
