Northeast Florida Clerks of Court team up against property and mortgage fraud

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Clerks of Court for Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau, Putnam and St. Johns counties need the residents they serve to take benefit of free property fraud alert companies supplied by every of their workplaces.

The clerks joined forces Monday to induce property homeowners to guard themselves against scammers who would steal their houses, vacant land or enterprise property by means of fraudulent deeds or different official information.

“Property and identity fraud are national and local problems that can have a serious impact,” mentioned Putnam County Clerk Matt Reynolds. “By taking advantage of this service offered by the Clerk of Circuit Court and Comptroller’s Office, citizens can get ahead of fraud and protect the things we have all worked so hard to achieve.”

Reynolds and Clerks Stacie D. Harvey, Tara S. Green, Jody Phillips, John A. Crawford and Brandon J. Patty launched a regional marketing campaign to focus on a shared webpage that gives property fraud signup hyperlinks in all six counties.

The webpage is accessible by means of each www.ProtectYourFloridaProperty.com and www.ClerksAgainstFraud.com.

“Northeast Florida Clerks are united to fight property fraud across the region, as criminals don’t stop at the county line,” mentioned St. Johns County Clerk Patty.

Property fraud is when somebody illegally makes use of your property for monetary acquire. A standard instance is when a scammer creates a fraudulent doc that can deed your property to them and then information that doc in a county’s official information.

“We are now seeing instances where your home and property can be digitally stolen from you by the filing of a fraudulent deed by scammers miles and miles away,” mentioned Baker County Clerk Harvey.

But property homeowners themselves can simply discern if possession of their dwelling or enterprise has been modified — if they’re notified {that a} change has occurred.

“Receiving notifications that something may be amiss is the first step to fighting back. We encourage all property owners to register for this free service that your Clerks have implemented for your protection,” mentioned Nassau County Clerk Crawford, who lately launched the county’s new property fraud alert service.

To fight the nationwide rise in property and mortgage fraud, identification safety firms cost month-to-month or annual charges to observe your official information. But your native Clerk of Court gives a free do-it-yourself possibility — merely subscribe to obtain alerts when an official file doc is recorded in your title(s) with that workplace.

“We ask property owners to partner with us, as we work to eliminate the attempts to steal homes and land,” mentioned Clay County Clerk Green. “Bad actors might get away with a fraudulent filing, but an alert sent to a registered property owner will quickly follow that allows the property owner to intervene.”

Like paid industrial alert techniques, the free noticing service doesn’t stop a fraudulent motion from occurring. As a county’s recorders of deeds and mortgages, Clerks of Court doc property information however aren’t licensed to find out the validity of the file.

“Although the notification won’t stop the fraudulent transaction, it will give the property owners the opportunity to right the wrong before it’s too far gone!” Harvey mentioned.

The free notification service gives an early warning system for subscribers, giving them a device to change into conscious of fraudulent exercise that will have in any other case gone undetected. Once notified, a property proprietor is aware of to contact legislation enforcement, search authorized recommendation, and even file a case in civil courtroom.

“Property fraud alerts give individuals and businesses the tools they need to proactively monitor recorded documents and stop property fraud at its very source,” Duval Clerk Phillips mentioned. “I greatly appreciate my fellow Clerks joining with me on the front steps of the Duval County Courthouse today as we present a united front against those who would seek to steal from our communities.”

Visit the web site, accessible by means of www.ProtectYourFloridaProperty.com or www.ClerksAgainstFraud.com, to signal up for this free service in every of these collaborating counties.