A podcast listener recently reached out to me with a great question. They received an email from their local community bank promoting a free service called PropertyFraudAlert.com. The service monitors the county recorder’s office and alerts you if someone fraudulently records a document against your home.
The listener wanted to know: Is this a legitimate service worth signing up for?
My answer is absolutely yes.
What Is Home Title Theft?
Let’s be clear: Home title fraud is rare, but it is beyond ugly when it happens to you.
Title theft occurs when a criminal steals your identity, falsifies documents, and transfers the ownership of your home into their name. Once they control the title, they can:
Take out a massive loan against your fully paid-off home.
Sell your home right out from under you without you ever knowing.
Suddenly, you could find yourself facing foreclosure or even being evicted from your own home. Because people lead busy lives, most have no idea this is even happening until the damage is already done.
The “Easy Button” for Title Protection
With a title alert service, you will be notified the moment any “funny stuff” starts with your title, hopefully giving you enough time to shut it down.
Right now, Property Fraud Alert is active in roughly 15 to 17 states. This feels like the early stages of another site I have recommended for years and years: MissingMoney.com. That site started off in just a small handful of states and eventually spread across almost the entire country. I expect this property alert concept to grow the exact same way.
Many people ask me, “Can’t I just register for alerts directly with my local county recorder’s office?” Yes, you can! Many counties offer their own free registry alerts. But the reality is that registering county-by-county is a step most people just never get around to. That’s why I love a centralized site like PropertyFraudAlert.com — it acts as an “easy button” for protecting your home.
Avoid the Expensive Commercial Traps
As best as I can tell, Property Fraud Alert is completely free to use. Do not be fooled by the non-stop commercials and ads you see for private, paid title fraud protection companies.
These private companies will try to charge you crazy amounts of money — sometimes hundreds of dollars a year — to protect your title. Here is why you shouldn’t pay them:
The crime is brutal, but it is incredibly rare. It does not justify a costly monthly subscription.
The information lives in public databases. You shouldn’t have to pay a private company to monitor data that should be easily and publicly accessed for free.
Final Thoughts
If your state or county is covered by Property Fraud Alert, go ahead and sign up. If it isn’t available in your area yet, take a few minutes to check your local county recorder’s website to see if they offer a free direct notification service.
Protecting your piece of the American dream shouldn’t cost you a dime.
The post Is Property Fraud Alert Legitimate? Why You Should Sign Up for This Free Service appeared first on Clark Howard.