Hey friends,

This is not meant to be alarmist, just a public service announcement of sorts. I've been updating US State Public Records online and have noticed some states are warning about Property and Mortgage fraud and the ability to sign up for a free alert if a document is recorded for your property. Here's one site you can visit to see if your state or county participates in their fraud alerts. (If you have no idea what public records are, here's a short, 4-minute overview of how to use US Public Records and here's a longer video explaining some of the things you can do with US State Public Records--start around minute 1.35)

My state and county do not participate and I spoke to our local Recorder's office and was told the Recorder's office is a library of information and they don't look through or try to verify the contents of any document, they just scan the document to make sure it meets the legal requirements to be filed. Any alert would happen after a document was recorded. The alert would just give you a heads-up.

If you're concerned, and your county doesn't have a Property Fraud Alert system, you can regularly go to your county's recorded documents site and check to make sure there's no activity associated with your home, etc. This is similar to how some people regularly check their bank accounts to make sure no fraudulent charges have gone through. (I have a friend who checks her bank accounts daily because she's had debit/credit card information stolen from gas station credit card skimmers.)

Back to the Property Fraud Alert. With or without the alert, the Recorder's office said you'd end up in court resolving the matter. So, you might want to be aware many states are warning of this crime. If I had older relatives, I would offer to go to their county public records and check for them. This seems like a crime that would be perpetrated on older people who might die, making it more difficult to prove whether or not they signed their property over to someone.

Here's an example from the Buffalo County, Nebraska, Register of Deeds office (the equivalent of a Recorder's office in other states):

"According to the FBI, Property and Mortgage Fraud is the fastest growing white collar crime. It can be as simple as someone recording a document in the Buffalo County Register of Deeds office land records that fraudulently makes it appear as if they now own your property.

To address these concerns, your Register of Deeds Office have a FREE service that will NOTIFY you when or if a document is recorded that matches your personal criteria.

As, your Register of Deeds, I urge you to monitor the Public Real Estate records filed using your name."

Again, I'm not trying to be alarmist. It's just something I've come across in multiple states so I wanted to share the information.

New and Updated Listings

Registry of Deeds Index Project Ireland

Westonka Historical Society

University Archives Digital Library - University of Nevada at Reno

Henderson Libraries

Louisiana Public Records Online

Tennessee Public Records Online

Indiana Public Records Online

Have a great weekend and best with your family history research!

Alyson

OnGenealogy