Oakland County Clerk Warns Postcards Threatening Home Seizure Are Scams

OAKLAND COUNTY, MI — Oakland County Clerk Lisa Brown warned residents Thursday that the strange postcards homeowners were seeing are part of a scam and not from her office, according to a news release from the Clerk's office.

Brown said numerous residents have contacted her office over the past several weeks after receiving a postcard through the mail with the heading "County Deed Records" and "Home Warranty Division."

The postcard threatens homeowners that there is a "lapse in coverage" and contains language clearly designed to agitate recipients. The postcard also uses terms like "Property Lienholder," "Final Notice" and "Registration is Required." The notice then encourages homeowners to call a 1-800 telephone number.

Brown warned the postcard is a scam by fraudsters impersonating the Clerk's office. The scam is a sales marketing ploy for home warranty policies priced at thousands of dollars annually, Brown warned.

"I have no patience for scam artists trying to mislead or bilk Oakland County residents," Brown said. "Anyone masquerading as the Oakland County Register of Deeds or other county department is a shameful fraudster."

Fraudsters also sent other letters threatening, "Property Seizure is Imminent" and urged homeowners to call a 1-800 telephone number. That notice comes with the heading, "Notice of Warrant and State of Michigan Tax Lien Action" references the "County of Oakland Office of Levys and Liens."

Brown said the "County of Oakland Office of Levys and Liens" office does not exist and believes these notices were put together by a debt collector. They are not authorized by Oakland County and under no circumstances should residents send money, Brown said.

"If you receive either of these in your mailbox, please know that it is not from my office and has no bearing on the status of your property," Brown said. "The best course of action is to dispose of these the same way you would any other piece of junk mail."

Brown said residents should log into the Property Records Notification to check documents from the Clerk's office. The website is a free service that sends an email notification whenever a document is recorded in the Oakland County Register of Deeds office with an enrollee’s chosen search term, like your home address for example.

Brown said it is one of many services the county provides to add security for Oakland County residents.

To learn more about PRN, visit www.ocmideeds.com.