Earlier this year, two men plead guilty to scamming property investors out of more than $1 million dollars in an Atlantic County property fraud scheme that took place between November 2018 and January 2019. How did they do it? “By faking real estate documents that made it look like they legally owned specific properties and “selling” them to unsuspecting investors. They created documents that were so convincing that they even fooled knowledgeable real estate professionals. Unfortunately, they were not the first and may very well not be the last scammers to do so. To protect yourself from becoming a victim of this fraud, please follow these simple guidelines.
Atlantic County Property Fraud Protection
What is Property Fraud?
Property fraud occurs when someone steals your identity to transfer a property into their name. Then, they record officially record themselves as the owner of record with the County Clerk’s office. This makes it look like they officially own your property. In turn, they may fraudulently sell it to someone else. The biggest rub is that you may not know this happened for months and sometimes even years afterward.
How to Protect Yourself
Scammers have become more and more sophisticated as time goes on. So, you need to do whatever you can to protect yourself from them. Unfortunately, this particular type of fraud has become quite prevalent in recent years. Luckily, many local municipalities provide a free alert system to notify you of a potentially fraudulent claim on your property. If you own property at the Jersey Shore, you may sign up for the Atlantic County Property Fraud Alert Service quickly, easily, and for free.
Simply visit the County’s official property alert webpage here. Create an account using your own username and password. Once you do so, you will receive a confirmation email. You may register either a specific name (make sure to use any possible variations you can think of for it, including Jr, Sr, middle initials, full names, etc.), an entity’s name (ABC Company), or property information (such as lot info, tax info, or municipality info). However, keep in mind that the property info is not always attached to all documents. A name, on the other hand, always appears on the document. Whenever anything gets filed using the information provided, you receive an email notification so that you may follow up on it quickly. So, make sure the email you use to register your alert is one you check often. If you live outside the Atlantic County area, I strongly urge you to search your municipality for a similar type of alert system.
Sherri Lilienfeld, Apex Prime Realty, Your Source for Jersey Shore Real Estate