Coral Springs, Florida Real Estate Attorney Sounds the Alarm on Home Title Fraud

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By Gary M. Landau, Esq.

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Coral Springs, Florida Real Estate Attorney Sounds Alarm on Home Title Fraud | Call (954) 979-6566

CORAL SPRINGS, Florida – Gary Landau, a longtime real estate and probate attorney and founder of the Law Office of Gary M. Landau, P.A., is alerting clients to the increase in home title fraud committed in South Florida.

Title fraud happens when someone changes a legal deed with a fraudulent one that lists someone else as the owner. Then that fraudulent person takes out a second mortgage or even sells the property, without the real owner knowing what is happening. Or, if the owner is deceased, the person falsely gets a probate court to pass the property to them.

The problem was outlined in a recent article in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel entitled “Home Fraud ‘Is Out of Control.’” The article reported on a case of two women who allegedly fraudulently gained control of two homes in Cooper City by using falsified documents, acquiring them in a probate and selling them for over $500,000 of ill-gotten profit. In the article, the Broward County Property Appraiser’s Office (BCPA) noted that they hear from people every day reporting of strangers trying to claim a family’s home.

According to the article, the women are facing charges of scheme to defraud, elderly exploitation, and grand theft. They also allegedly had dozens of other homes illegally transferred to them, but many were outside the statute of limitations for prosecution, the article stated.

“This is a growing problem, but fortunately there are things homeowners can do to protect themselves,” Gary Landau says. “I’m advising my clients to take this problem seriously.”

On a local South Florida television station last year, BCPA property appraiser Marty Kiar noted that “scammers have figured out how to forge deed documents and file them with the county to take ownership of a home. The thieves have found a loophole.” A key reason this can happen is that Florida law requires the county records division to accept any filed document. Additionally, the law prohibits county offices from confirming whether a person listed on a deed is the valid owner, as long as the document is notarized and witnessed by two individuals.

A Free County Service Helps People Protect Their Homes

Several companies sell title monitoring services, but these services are costly, and because they alert you after a new deed has been filed when they perform a random check, it may be weeks or months after the illegal transfer. “I’ve never advised my clients to purchase these services,” Landau says.

However, Broward County recently began its own free program that Landau believes is worth participating in. Called Owner Alert, the program by BCPA also doesn’t prevent the fraud from occurring. But it alerts the rightful owners within 24 hours by email if there is any title change on the property, so they can take swift action. According to the Sun Sentinel, within two months of its introduction last year, some 26,000 homeowners signed up for it.

Landau first alerted his real estate clients to the BCPA Owner Alert program months ago, in an article published on the firm’s website. Since then, the problem of home title fraud has continued to grow.

Another news story from a television station in Central Florida last month documented how the problem is occurring there as well, resulting in thousands of homeowners signing up for a similar service offered by counties in that area.

“I’m afraid these title fraud schemes will continue, which is why homeowners and heirs must remain vigilant. Since the Broward County program is free, it’s important for everyone to enroll, so they can be alerted to unauthorized activity when it is easiest to fix,” Landau says. If someone fraudulently changes the title to your home, you can then notify law enforcement right away, he advises.

Owner Alert is a free service designed to help property owners in Broward County. To register, click on the application page for the service and provide your name, property ID number (which can be searched on the website) and your email address.

Once registered, BCPA notifies homeowners if there has been a change of property ownership, based on a new deed recorded with the Broward County Records Division. The notification comes via email, with the link to the recorded document. More information on the program can be found on the program’s frequently asked questions page.

About the Law Office of Gary M. Landau, P.A.

Gary M. Landau is a longtime attorney based in Coral Springs, Florida, who practices in the areas of real estate, probate, wills and trusts. He is also a certified mediator – mediating escrow and other disputes so that both parties come to a mutually satisfying resolution.

Over the years, Gary M. Landau has served as chair of the real property section of the Broward Bar Association and was a member of the Board of Directors of the Broward Bar. He was also a longtime member of the Ft. Lauderdale Board of Realtors Lawyer-Realtor Committee.

His law office has been featured in the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, the Coconut Creek/Margate Forum, and other media.

The Law Office of Gary M. Landau, P.A. employs many highly experienced real estate and probate paralegals who together have more than 40 years of experience in the field.

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Frequently Asked Questions

A will is the simplest way to ensure that your funds, property and personal things will be distributed after your death the way you want them to. Even if you have very few assets, you will benefit from having a will. About half of all Americans die without a will (known in legal terminology as dying intestate). Without a will to indicate your wishes, the court steps in and distributes your property according to state law. A will ensures that your assets will be given to family members or other beneficiaries you designate.

 

Having a will is doubly important if you have young children. One section of the will allows you to designate a guardian for them in the event of your death. Without a will, the court will appoint a guardian for your children, who may not be the person you desire.

Many Florida residents have out-of-state wills, drawn up while they were still living among the hills of North Carolina or the hubbub of New York. If the will was valid according to your old state’s laws at the time you made it, it is still legal in Florida. However, if you are a Florida resident, you may benefit greatly by having a new will drawn up in Florida, because it will likely be more easily admitted to probate.

 

It is important to know that each state has its own requirements for what makes a will a legally binding document. For example, Florida doesn’t recognize handwritten wills that haven’t been witnessed (known as “holographic wills”), or oral wills not put into writing, even if other states okay them. There’s also the matter of Florida estate law. In this state, for example, your surviving spouse is entitled to 30 percent of your net probate estate, regardless of what you say in your will. The spouse may also have a “Homestead” interest in property you share here, even if you want your house to go to someone else. In fact, all real property owned in Florida will be subject to this state’s laws, even if you’re a snowbird maintaining a residence in the state where your will was drawn up. Other peculiarities also exist, which is why a Florida will could make things much easier for your heirs.

 

If you would like to have me review your current out-of-state will, I am happy to do so without charge. If it turns out to be in accordance with Florida state laws and procedures, you can continue to rely on it. If not, however, your heirs would rather you discover that now.

It is a good idea to re-read your will every few years to be sure it reflects up-to-date realities (you may not want to leave your heirloom to a niece you are no longer speaking to, nor have someone be named your child’s guardian if they have taken seriously ill since you drafted your will). It is especially important to reexamine your will if:

 

  • You have gotten married since it was last drafted;
  • You have made bequests to people who have fallen out of your favor or are no longer living (I recently updated the will of a man who had left everything to his first wife, who was long deceased), or you have not included people who are now dear to you;
  • You would like to change the person named as the personal representative of the estate. (Note: Florida law does not allow a nonresident of the state to serve in this position, unless it is an immediate family member or certain other relatives);
  • You have acquired pricey or sentimental items that are not accounted for in your will. Do note, though, that Florida law allows you to attach a separate personal property memorandum to your will, detailing who will get which specific items. This list can be changed whenever you want.

Perhaps I should answer this question with where not to store it: in a bank’s safety deposit box. Although it may seem logical to put this with your other important papers, it is often difficult for your heirs to gain access to the box once you die, since the box is sealed then and must be opened in the presence of a bank employee.

 

One good option is to leave your original will with the attorney who drafted it, making copies for your personal representative and other important relatives and letting them know who has the original. For my clients who prefer that I store their original will, I keep it in a fireproof will vault in my office, or in the vault in my bank.

 

As an alternative, you could store the will in a fireproof box or vault in your own home.

 

Wherever you store it, be sure to let your personal representative and other close relatives know where you have put it!

Probate is when the court oversees your assets and liabilities after your death. During probate, the court makes sure that your will is valid and acceptable; that all debts, bills, creditor’s claims, and taxes are paid from your estate’s assets; and that your remaining assets are distributed to your beneficiaries according to your will (or, if no will exists, by Florida law).

 

Probate usually does take longer than most beneficiaries would like. But in order to ensure that everyone with a right to a claim is included in the process, the court requires several steps. If the size and complexity of your estate are minimal, however, the entire process of probate can take as little as a few months. Larger estates that are subject to IRS estate taxes or those involving litigation on the part of creditors or heirs generally take longer, often one or more years.

 

To speed the process along for simple and small estates, the courts allow a shortened form of probate, known as “summary administration,” which requires much less paperwork and time.

A personal representative (PR) is a friend or relative, or an attorney or bank, who is put in charge of the estate until all matters regarding the probate are resolved. (In other states, this person is sometimes called an executor or administrator.) The job of the PR includes identifying all assets, searching for creditors and paying valid claims, filing required estate tax returns if the estate is large enough (the figure escalates over time, according to Congressional laws), coordinating with the probate court and attorneys, and overseeing the distribution of assets–all done under the guidance and assistance of a qualified attorney.

 

Serving as a PR is an important role, and such a person should be selected with care as to who is most willing and best able to serve in this position. By Florida law, your personal representative must be over 18 years of age, and be a blood relative, your spouse, the parent or child of your spouse, or a Florida resident.

Generally, no. If you co-own all property via such legal structures as “tenancy by the entirety” or by “joint tenancy with right of survivorship” the property immediately passed to you upon your spouse’s death. Proof of death is usually all that is needed to pass such jointly owned title for cars, stocks, and other personal property to the surviving spouse.

 

But if even one asset was held solely in the deceased person’s name, or any property is owned in the form of a “tenancy in common,” that estate will be required to go through probate. If the assets are limited, the shorter, simpler form of probate is generally all that is required.
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