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| County Recorder Takes Part in Fraud Prevention Program |
Property and Mortgage fraud is a fast growing area of white collar crime. It can be as simple as someone filing a false document to give the appearance that they own your property. Then, they borrow money against it, or sell it and collect the payment without the true owner knowing what is going on.
Knox County Recorder of Deeds Paula Monzo is offering a notification service to property owners. Whenever there is activity on a property deed, the owner can be notified by email or telephone. It requires the individual property owners sign-up for the service, but there will be no charge.
It is an easy process that requires only your name and email or phone number.
"This is a great service to property owners, and it's free," Monzo said, "Someone can get a false notary seal, file a quick claim deed, and transfer property to their name. After they obtain the false deed, a fictional buyer can obtain a mortgage, pay the purchase price to the false deed holder, and both disappear. When that loan defaults, the true owner can find themselves in court trying to prove they had nothing to do with it."
Federal Bureau of Investigation data shows over $813 million in property fraud occurred in 2007 and the number is increasing annually. Illinois is in the top ten states with occurrences of property fraud.
"The fraud alert system is up and running and people just need to go to the web site and sign up for it," Monzo said. The website to register for the notification service can be found by CLICKING HERE.
(Submitted by Knox County Public Information Office) |
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| 08 22 09 by Newsroom |
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