PERSON OF THE WEEK: Although by no means a silver bullet, new legislation recently signed by Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee marks another step forward in the fight against title fraud, which has been on the rise in recent years.
The new legislation aims to protect homeowners from title fraud by specifying the people and entities allowed to submit electronic records to a county register – making “filing vendors,” not registers of deeds, responsible for ensuring that the records being transmitted are legitimate.
Title fraud – also known as deed fraud – is a growing problem that is poised to get worse before it gets better. In April, the Boston Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) posted a warning to property owners and real estate agents about a steady increase in reports of quit claim deed fraud it has received.
So what is driving the increase in title fraud, how prevalent is it, and what can be done to combat it? To find out, MortgageOrb recently interviewed Jon Dovidio, chief strategy officer for EquityProtect, which offers fraud prevention and data security solutions to the real estate industry.
Q: How much has home title fraud increased nationally in recent years? Do you have stats you can provide?
Jon Dovidio: According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, from 2019 through 2023, 58,141 victims reported $1.3 billion in losses relating to real estate fraud.
The Boston Division of the FBI – which includes all of Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island- reports that during the same period, 2,301 victims reported losing more than $61.5 million.
This includes 262 victims in Maine who lost $6,253,008; 1,576 victims in Massachusetts who lost $46,269,818; 239 victims in New Hampshire who lost $4,144,467; and 224 victims in Rhode Island who lost $4,852,220.
Additionally, according
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