Marin County residents have a new resource to help protect them from property deed fraud, which county officials called one of the country’s fastest-growing white collar crimes.
Marin County Assessor-Recorder-County Clerk Shelly Scott and District Attorney Lori Frugoli have launched a local program that notifies property owners when documents have been filed about an ownership transfer.
County officials said such fraud happens when a fraudulent deed is recorded against a property and that, in many cases, the owner may not even be aware that a deed was recorded changing ownership of their property.
Under the new program, property owners or former property owners will be notified by letter about a recent filing with the Recorder’s Office. If they are aware of the transfer, they don’t need to act.
If they are not aware, they should contact their local police department or the District Attorney’s real estate fraud division as soon as possible via the program’s website at https://www.marincountyda.org/service/real-estate-fraud.
Scott said:
“Deed fraud is a serious crime. … We’ve seen reports from Southern California of rightful homeowners having to spend lots of money in legal fees to resolve issues after they have been harassed by criminals. We want to be proactive with this and prevent Marin residents from being victimized.”
Frugoli said her staff is particularly focused on deed fraud because Marin County has a large population of senior long-term generational homeowners whose homes have built up a lot of equity. Marin has the highest percentage of seniors out of California’s 58 counties, and preventing financial elder abuse is a shared goal with the new program.
Frugoli said:
“These homeowners could easily be victimized by friends and/or family members.”
She added:
“We are happy to collaborate on this program with the Assessor-Recorder’s Office. Our real estate fraud investigator will address any reported fraud or suspected fraud.”
Scott and Frugoli offer several recommendations for homeowners to protect themselves from such fraud:
Last modified October 5, 2021 12:19 pm
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