Most owners need a lawyer to do that, and few lawyers are willing to handle such matters for free. Usually owners must file a lawsuit to clear title. The owner cannot simply ignore the forgery unless the defrauded buyer or lender accepts the owner’s account and disclaims any interest in the property.

Since the forger’s name will appear on the land records, the forger can sometimes deceive a third party into “buying” the property or a lender to take a “mortgage” of the nonexistent title. And, having acquired nothing, the forger has nothing to resell to a third party or to ‘mortgage’ to a lender.Īlthough title theft isn’t real, a forged deed or mortgage can have a very real - often devastating - impact on the owner. Smart Business spoke with William Maffucci, a real-estate litigator with Semanoff Ormsby Greenberg & Torchia, LLC, to find out.Ĭan someone acquire title to a real property simply by forging the owner’s name on a deed? They pocket the proceeds and “stick” us with any mortgage payments.īut can a thief really “steal” your house through forgery, and are you really obligated to pay off a thief’s mortgage loan? They say that thieves can “steal” our homes by forging our names on deeds, then resell the property or take out mortgage loans to drain its equity. Now advertisers bombard us daily with warnings about it. Under California’s Unfair Competition Law, judges can halt advertising they find to be deceptive, order refunds to customers and impose civil penalties of $2,500 per violation, or $5,000 for elderly or disabled consumers.“Title theft” was a term unknown just a generation ago. Fraudulent title transfers are rare, they said - and, under California law, a fraudulent deed has no legal effect and cannot deprive homeowners of their property.Ĭhiu said Home Title Lock targets older customers with its advertising. Read more about how The Chronicle covers politics and what we do to ensure fairness in our reportingīut Chiu and San Diego City Attorney Mara Elliott said the company’s advertising is based on false claims: that it is easy to transfer a home title fraudulently, that fraud removes the property from the actual owner and that Home Title prevents fraudulent transfers by “locking” the home title.Īll the company actually does, the city attorneys said, is notify homeowners when their title is recorded fraudulently.

It lists endorsements from prominent conservatives including Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. “Thieves around the world are targeting American homeowners,” forging their signatures, filing legal documents claiming a home has been sold, then taking out loans on the property, Home Title Lock declares on its website. The company advertises itself as “the leader in home title protection” and, for $19.95 a month, promises customers to “keep identity thieves from stealing your home’s equity.” This - a crime when committed - results in years of legal battles and worst case, losing your home,” Feld said. But homeowners’ insurance, alarm systems, credit monitoring and all other measures don’t do anything to guard against title fraud.

“Responsible homeowners put safeguards in place to protect their home and equity. Home Title Lock’s national operations manager, James Feld, told The Chronicle in a statement that the company hasn’t received any communications from the San Diego or San Francisco city attorneys offices. The documents will help to show “the impact on San Franciscans and Californians” and potentially support a lawsuit, he said.

“Only the company knows the true extent of its advertising and has a list of subscribers,” Chiu told The Chronicle. A new state law allows California’s most populous cities and counties to subpoena documents they need to investigate unfair-competition cases. The cities are not suing Home Title Lock, however, but instead are issuing a subpoena demanding information since the start of 2019 identifying its customers, the extent of its advertising, consumer complaints and its methods of monitoring records of home titles.

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