Property title transfer protection pilot program a good start

Google “deed theft scams in Florida” and you will find that the real estate market is not only hot for those looking to buy or sell

It’s a market ripe for property thieves who use forged documents and identity theft to transfer title and then sell or mortgage homes or lots they do not own.

While such transfers are obviously not legal, they cause both legal and financial problems for the true property owner as once such a deed is recorded, “it appears valid, and others may purchase the property from the fraudster or the third party named as guarantee in the deed in the belief that such person owns and has the right to sell the property,” according to an analysis of recently approved legislation designed to address the problem starting with a pilot program to launch here in Lee County

Thanks to the efforts of Lee County Clerk of the Courts Kevin Karnes, who realized how easy it was for sophisticated scammers to steal properties because existing state law tied the hands of such officials when it came to recording deeds, it’s going to become a whole lot less easy

The “Title Fraud Prevention Through Identity Verification Pilot Program” will be test-