SHELBY COUNTY — The Shelby County Recorder's Office is warning residents about an increase in property fraud crimes, including deed and title fraud, seller impersonation and fake purchase agreements.
"That is not fair. If they want their own home, they should get it themselves and not take other people's property that they've worked hard for," said Tressie, a concerned resident.
John Davidio, vice president of business development at Equity Protect, a title protection and home equity fraud prevention service, said the crimes are rising across Indiana and nationwide.
"When it comes to information concerning property ownership, it's all public record," Davidio said. "There are data services that can be subscribed to where you can get it, download a copy of the deed, where you can get the signature of the client."
The Shelby County Recorder's office has been fielding calls from worried residents about the growing threat.
"Property fraud is a growing concern nationwide, and we want Shelby County landowners to know there are tools available to help monitor or prevent it," the recorder's office said in a statement.
The office partnered with the county's land records management system to provide information about services that offer both free property alerts and paid protection plans. The county receives no compensation and doesn't endorse the services.
"We unfortunately do not have the authority to confirm or deny their validity," the statement said, referring to fraudulent documents that meet statutory recording requirements.
Davidio explained how criminals bypass county oversight by impersonating property owners.
"They've bypassed the county recorder by just impersonating a property owner whose either their raw land or their primary residence or whatever it is. They just impersonate them and they sell the property," he said.
According to Davido, the recorder's office often doesn't discover fraud until after documents are filed, leaving homeowners vulnerable to discovering crimes after they've occurred.
"It's turned into a real nasty thing," Davidio said.
