Fraud- on paid off homes

Jennywombat · ‎04-24-2022

My mom has paid off her 2nd home, still has a mortgage on her primary home.

She was a victim of identify fraud: they have her SSN and normal stuff like name, address, b-day, etc.

1) Is she in danger of having someone sell her paid off house without her knowing?

2) If Mom doesn't sign the document to transfer ownership is she protected? Officials don't check signatures, so it would be a legal issue and lawyer fees will be accrued - be expensive. The only way to make sure the deed is not sold illegally is to look regularly in the county records to make sure there was no transfer of deed.

3) She is signed up for Lifelock so they can't open accounts, does this protect her deeds being falsified?

4) Will this work?

The criminals are looking for houses that do not have any loans. Find a community bank and take a small HELOC out and put the money into the bank's money market or other of their account. That way the bank will be the layer of protection against someone forging a false deed and selling the house. With a community bank you might be able to negotiate a lower mortgage interest rate if they know the money will be sitting with them.

4) Will Owner’s title insurance protect her. It protects the homeowner from someone putting a lean on the property from a previous owner, right?

5) Do we have to worry about her federal retirement and Social Security direct deposits?

Any advice is welcome.

Concerned Daughter.