I-Team: Quit Claim fraud on the rise, Connecticut towns invest in protection
(WFSB) - When is the last time you checked your own home’s property records? It’s something you should be monitoring. It’s easier than you think for a scammer to steal your home right from under your nose.
Suzy Couture is a real estate agent in Glastonbury. One day earlier this year, she received a text from an unknown number. The text read, “I have a property in Ellington. I’d like to sell. It’s a piece of land. I think you’d be a good fit. Are you interested?”
“Of course, as a real estate agent I was,” said Couture.
However, right away she felt something wasn’t right.
“I tried to call them, and they did not respond on the phone, but they did text me right back saying they were not in Connecticut, that they were overseas right now with family, and that text was best, which was my number 1 red flag,” said Couture.
Couture checked the property records and realized the name of the landowner didn’t match the person’s name who had texted her. She called the real landowner right away.
“I said somebody is out there trying to sell your property from under you,” said Couture.
Turns out scammers can fraudulently file what is known as a quit claim. It’s a document that says the real landowner is turning the property over to the scammer.
A spokesperson for the American Land Title Association tells the I-team there has been a significant uptick in these type of scams, so significant the organization is planning to research exactly how often it happens.
In Manchester, town clerk Maria Cruz has already heard of it happening in her town at least once in the last year.
“It’s very easy. It’s very easy to do. That’s why there’s been such an increase with concerns from the community and the residents around this,” said Cruz.
The town of Manchester is now providing a service to help protect residents from this type of fraud. It’s called PropertyCheck. The service is free for Manchester homeowners.
“We sat down, and we were like we need to figure something out and how we can help our residents to protect themselves,” said Cruz.
Cruz showed the I-Team how quickly you can sign up online. If you go to the Record Hub for the town, you just click “create notification” under the PropertyCheck box.
If you sign up, you’ll be notified with a text or email when a document is filed about your property. That way if something is fraudulently filed, you can stop any sale or transaction before it happens.
The PropertyCheck program cost Manchester $700 to setup. It costs $300 a year to maintain.
“I think it’s a piece of mind for residents at a minimal cost for the town to provide this level of service,” said Steve Stephanou, Manchester Town Manager.
Couture has watched to make sure the land in Ellington hasn’t been listed for sale by another realtor. She helped stop one scammer, but she’ll never know who they turned to next.
There are currently 23 towns in Connecticut offering PropertyCheck for residents. Cruz says around 20 more have requested a quote for the service.
The towns that currently offer PropertyCheck are:
- Bethel
- Bolton
- Branford
- Chaplin
- Danbury
- East Granby
- Ellington
- Farmington
- Guilford
- Manchester
- Mansfield
- Montville
- New Canaan
- New Fairfield
- North Branford
- Old Lyme
- Plymouth
- Pomfret
- South Windsor
- Southington
- Trumbull
- Westport
- Wilton
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