Let’s Kick Seller Impersonation Fraud.

It’s football season, and the Kelce family is trending. Travis Kelce plays for the Kansas City Chiefs, Jason Kelce plays for the Philadelphia Eagles, and Mama Kelce and the fans rarely confuse one for the other. Travis and Jason bring different skills to the field and would never try to impersonate each other.

However, title professionals are working together to kick seller impersonation scams. (Consider these recent stories here and here).  ALTA CEO Diane Tomb recently penned this op-ed for HousingWire in which she called this play a threat to “American homeownership” and encouraged all of us in real estate to remain true to our playbooks to prevent more of these scams from taking place.

That’s exactly what we call this audible for both REALTORS® and homeowners to help prevent this scam.

Tips for REALTORS®

Ask the seller to provide a government-issued ID. Make sure the name on the ID matches the property documents and compare the signatures with previously recorded documents, such as a deed of conveyance or mortgage deed.

Request documents only a property owner would have. It’s always better to be safe than sorry, especially when dealing with a potential scam.

Use public record search tools to your advantage. We’re talking about verifying the name and information of the property owner, reverse phone searching using the seller’s provided number and more. Any one of these simple steps could be the difference between foiling a criminal or letting something slip through the cracks.

Tips for Homeowners

Sign up for free property monitoring services. This kind of service is often offered at the county or other local level but shouldn’t be confused with other similar-sounding paid services that may seem sketchy themselves.

Set up a Google Alert for your address(es). This seems simple enough – but if your property gets listed for sale on a public website/database, doing this would ensure you get a notification email about it.

None of us must let our guard down when dealing with this scam – and the others out there that threaten our customers and transactions. We can work together as a team to get transactions across the goal line. Contact us here.