There has been an increase in title theft cases lately.  Title theft is where someone forges your signature and transfers your title to someone else in exchange for money.  In other words, they sell your house from under you.  County recorders may not catch the forgery.  Recorders will check the name of the grantor against the name of the property owner, but generally do not analyze signatures on documents or call homeowners directly to determine whether the deed is fraudulent.  This can make title theft hard to detect, unless a homeowner notices the fraudulent document and acts quickly.

What can you do?  Check with your local county to see if they have a warning system in place.  In Maricopa County, you can create an account on the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office.  Enter a valid email address and your personal or business names to track.  After subscribing to the system, you’ll receive an email notification each time any of those names appear in a newly recorded document and a link to view the PDF of the filing.

Here is a link to the site:  https://recorder.maricopa.gov/MaricopaTitleAlert/Default

If you have any questions, contact us and we can help.