Home title theft occurs when someone steals your property title by fraudulently transferring the legal ownership of the property to themselves. They will steal your identity and forge your signature. Home title theft can leave you not just without your home but also with crippling debt as scammers use the property to take mortgages. You may think that home title theft is rare but numbers tell you otherwise. According to one paper, in 2020, deed theft amounted to $547 million. Given this number, title theft cannot be taken lightly.
Here we share with you a few useful tips to protect yourself from home title theft:
1. Adopt good practices to protect your personal information:
Home title theft often involves scammers committing identity theft online. It is therefore important to protect your personal information. Here are some practices that you can follow:
- Never click on suspicious links or download unverified documents.
- Never open suspicious emails. Cybercriminals often send fraudulent emails that look legitimate to either hack your computer or gain sensitive personal and financial information.
- Don’t provide sensitive information such as Social Security Number or bank details to strangers.
- Avoid using public Wi-Fi for financial transactions as they are often unencrypted, giving cybercriminals a chance to snoop on your data.
- Shred every piece of paper that you throw away – as scamsters may go through your trash to get personal information such as bank account numbers, health insurance cards, or credit card details to commit identity theft.
- Use strong passwords to secure your online accounts.
2. Keep a tab on missing bills :
If you notice missing utility bills, contact the service provider immediately. It could be a sign of identity theft. Not just that, if you find extra bills for services you’ve never signed up for or if there’s a sudden spike in utility bills in an unoccupied property, follow up with the concerned company.
3. Observe your credit report:
You should regularly check your credit score. If there’s an unexplained drop in the credit score, call your bank or credit card provider immediately to report potential fraud. This can help nip a title fraud in the bud.
4. Hire home title protection services
Though property fraud can be fought in court and ultimately be rectified, it can be time-consuming. Until the title is clear, you will face difficulty in selling the house or getting it refinanced. Protect your home by hiring services of a home title monitoring company. They will protect your home title by monitoring it on a regular basis. They will inform you of changes such as fraudulent claims or liens made against your property.
What to do in case of home title theft?
If you think your property title is stolen, you must contact a home title theft attorney who can offer legal advice. David L. Fleck is a house title theft lawyer who has been unraveling the complex schemes of scammers and helping victims of fraud for decades. If you’re looking for a house title theft lawyer, get in touch with David L. Fleck.