FILE – A sold sign hangs in front of a Brighton, New York house on Tuesday, February 21, 2023. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage rose to 6.66% from 6.62% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday, Jan. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)
LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — If you’re concerned about the rising rate of property fraud crimes, there’s a tool that the Ingham County Register of Deeds Office wants you to know about.
By signing up for the free Property Fraud Alert Service, property owners will get notification by phone or email of any documents recorded at the Register of Deed’s Office under their name, “ensuring that you can be proactive and informed about your property, and protect yourself against property fraud,” county officials said.
Some examples of property fraud are when an imposter attempts to sell or mortgage a property by impersonating the owner, or attempts to take ownership of someone else’s property.
You can sign up for the tool online or over the phone, and can put in up to three names per phone number or four names per email address if you want multiple people to receive the alerts for the same property.
“This service can be a fantastic tool for a wide range of property owners: those with aging parents to protect your loved ones from scams or fraud, property owners with multiple homes or properties, and for property owners wanting peace of mind that they’ll be alerted of any and all documents submitted with the Register of Deeds Office under their name in Ingham County,” said officials with the Register of Deeds Office.
You can sign up for the fraud alert tool here. If you have questions, you can contact the Register of Deeds Office at 517-676-7294 or by email at TGerring@ingham.org (Trisha Gerring, Chief Deputy Register of Deeds).
