How can your home title be stolen?

How can your home title be stolen?

Property title theft most commonly occurs when one person fraudulently puts the deed to a house in another person’s name, refinances a home’s mortgage, or takes out a brand new mortgage using a home’s value as collateral. The thief can refinance the mortgage, cashing out the equity and walking away with the difference.

How can you protect yourself from property fraud?

3 ways to help protect yourself against deed fraud

1. Monitor your credit reports.
2. Check the status of your deed.
3. Consider buying an owner’s title insurance policy.

How common is title fraud?

The FBI estimated a couple years back that 9,600 U.S. homeowners were victims of title fraud. That’s a microscopic percentage – slightly more than 0.0001\% of the roughly 87 million U.S. homes owned. All that said, home title theft is a new form of identity theft.

What’s real estate fraud?

Real estate fraud is where one person or party commits fraud in connection with the purchase, sale, rental or financing of real estate property. foreclosure fraud statutes, rent skimming laws, and. laws on filing forged deeds or documents.

Is there a lot of fraud in real estate?

According to the FBI, more than 13,600 people were victims of real estate or rental fraud last year alone. Real estate scams play out in various ways, and some of the most common are mortgage scams. Sometimes shady lenders or loan brokers will promote misinformation to obtain money from unsuspecting borrowers.

How do you commit a title fraud?

In order to do this, the criminal committing title theft forges your signature on the deed so it looks like you sold the property. He or she then signs the document as the grantee—or the new homeowner—and files the forged deed with the county recorder to make it look official.

Is home title fraud a thing?

Home title fraud is an involuntary transfer of property ownership without the true owner’s consent or knowledge. In this scheme, someone tries to transfer ownership (title) of an owner’s property to someone else. Or they borrow money using someone else’s property as collateral.

How can I protect my home from being sold?

How To Protect Yourself When Selling Your Home

1. Be completely honest on your seller disclosure.
2. Put everything in writing.
3. Only allow preapproved buyers to see your home.
4. Clear away personal and valuable items.
5. Remove dogs or other pets during showings.
6. Provide a home warranty for your buyer.

Can you lose your house if someone sues you?

So, can you lose your home in a lawsuit in California? Yes, but the risk of losing your house usually only applies when you’re ordered to pay a large sum of money that you can not otherwise afford. You can lose your home in a lawsuit in California without the right protections in place.