House Stealing: Identity Theft + Mortgage Fraud = Big Problems

March 29, 2008

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed or get new posts via email. Thanks for visiting!

OK, this one is potentially really nasty - house stealing.

Unfortunately a fraud alert or credit freeze won’t help you this time.

The FBI reports that thieves have started using identity theft with the goal of stealing a victim’s house.

There are basically a few ways this has happened so far:

• Thieves find a property, find out who owns it, steal the owner’s identity, and then transfer the deed to themselves and sell it
• Thieves find homeowners that need help with their mortgage and offer to refinance. Instead they use fake IDs to buy the house from them so that the owner loses the house and the bank loses the loan

Isn’t It, Uh, Hard to Steal A House?

It’s depressingly easy:

• They do all the standard identity theft stuff that we know and love and put together fake ID
• Fill out property transfer forms
• File the deed using the forms and the fake ID
• Time for you to start packing

How Do You Prevent it?

Well, you want to do the standard stuff both to deter identity theft and detect it, but aside from that the FTC does have some suggestions specifically for house stealing:

* If you receive a payment book or information from a mortgage company that’s not yours, whether your name is on the envelope or not, don’t just throw it away. Open it, figure out what it says, and follow up with the company that sent it.

* From time to time, it’s also a good idea to check all information pertaining to your house through your county’s deeds office. If you see any paperwork you don’t recognize or any signature that is not yours, look into it.

Personally given all the money I am currently spending on renovations I wouldn’t be too upset if someone stole my house, but I can see this one turning into a huge problem.

Have you heard of any examples of house stealing in your area?

Source: FBI

Related Posts

Posted in Identity Theft