Register O'Donnell Promotes Protection Against Real Estate Fraud

From Norfolk County Registry of Deeds:

Continuing his efforts to protect homeowners against dishonest individuals, Register of Deeds William P. O'Donnell reminds residents about the availability of a free online Consumer Notification Service offered by the Registry to protect Norfolk County property owners against fraud.

"The F.B.I. has reported that property and mortgage fraud is one of the fastest growing white collar crimes in the U.S. Multiple jurisdictions across the country have reported individuals recording fraudulent documents and making it appear like they own another person's home or property. While we have been fortunate that this problem has not revealed itself here in Norfolk County, I want to make sure my office is proactively and vigorously protecting consumers," noted Register O'Donnell.

Any owner of real property in the 28 communities comprising Norfolk County can sign up for the Consumer Notification Service free of charge by doing the following: go to the Registry's website, and click on the Consumer Notification Service Get Consumer Alerts button to complete the initial registration. From there, follow the remaining signup instructions.

Once you have signed up for the service, each subscriber will be able to input two names, individual or business and the corresponding city or town in Norfolk County for monitoring. They can monitor their real estate for such activities as changes in deeds, mortgages, non-mortgage liens, homesteads or other land documents that might be recorded against their property.

If a document is recorded against one of the names inputted for monitoring, the subscriber will be alerted via email, usually within 24 hours. The person can check the Registry's land research records online. If a subscriber believes a fraudulent land record has been recorded against their property, they should then immediately contact the Norfolk County Registry of Deeds Customer Service Center at (781) 461-6101. The subscriber would also be given a list of public safety referrals by the Registry.

Register O'Donnell concluded, "As your Norfolk County register of deeds, I take very seriously the Registry's responsibility to provide secure, accurate and accessible land records for all Norfolk County communities. I also want to be proactive in ensuring that there is no fraudulent activity related to land document recordings. By offering the Consumer Notification Service, we are able to provide a level of protection to the program's subscribers against unscrupulous individuals who would attempt to commit real estate fraud. We are delighted already to have more than 400 residents sign-up for the free service."