Protecting Your Home from Real Estate Fraud
With the increased emphasis on housing in Alameda County and a senior population aiming to protect their investments, the District Attorney’s Office last Tuesday announced a free program to combat real estate fraud and protect homeowners.
Real estate fraud is any illegal activity affecting a home. It can include stealing your identity to purchase a house or apply for a home loan without your knowledge, forging your signature on a deed or other document, and/or tricking you into paying for real estate services that do not help or that you do not need.
The appetite for real estate fraud is increasing. Last November, four Bay Area real estate professionals were charged with illegally obtaining $55 million in loans for homebuyers in Northern California by creating false documents that they then submitted to residential mortgage companies.
Real estate information provider CoreLogic’s 2023 Annual Mortgage Fraud Report estimates in the last six months of 2023, 0.75% of all US mortgage applications contained fraud, about 1 in 134 applications.
Alameda County’s new Real Estate Fraud Notification Program is part of the DA’s Consumer Justice Bureau. It works like an automated notification you might get if you change your password online or your bank notices suspicious activity.
Here is how it works: When the title of a property is transferred to another person, from the filing of a Grant Deed or Quitclaim Deed at the Alameda County Clerk-Recorder Office, a letter from the District Attorney’s Office is automatically generated and mailed to notify the owner of the transfer. The letter also includes a copy of the first five pages of the document which triggered the notification.
Homeowners who are unaware of the transfer can contact the District Attorney Real Estate Fraud Unit to have the matter investigated, prosecuted, and ultimately voided by the Court.
“The goal of this program is to protect the most valuable asset a person in Alameda County can have, and that’s their home. All too often, white-collar thieves target the equity earned by seniors in our community who purchased their homes many years ago,” said District Attorney Pamela Price.
The DA’s Office also suggests the following to protect yourself from real estate fraud:
Never do business with people whom you’ve never met face-to-face.
Avoid doing business with strangers you meet on the Internet or at coffee shops, stores, or church who tell you they have a “great business deal” for you.
Check the names of individuals and companies on the Internet to see if they have complaints against them.
NEVER pay for real estate deals with cash. Pay with a check so that your payments can be traced if needed.
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Information on the DA’s Real Estate Fraud program is also available in Spanish, Chinese, and Farsi.
For more information, visit the DA’s Office website (https://www.alcoda.org/cewpd/real-estate-fraud/).