Real Estate Scam: Homeowners Tricked Into Buying Fake Documents

by: Mike Wheatley

Fake companies reportedly are soliciting customers with a formal-looking letter that resembles a government bill. The companies are using multiple names for their business, such as Record Transfer Services, Property Transfer Services, Conveyance Transfer Services, Record Retrieval Department, and National Deed Service.

In a recent case in Wisconsin, new home owners were asked for an $83 “document fee” for a deed and “real property records” by a certain deadline.

“Some people don’t even call and ask the question,” says Sherieda Wilder, a records clerk with the Milwaukee County register of deeds office. “They just automatically send [the money]. They’re just excited they get their house.”

Graig Goldman, a real estate broker with RE/MAX Lakeside Realty in Milwaukee, first alerted the Sentinel about the scam after two of his clients approached him separately within two months of purchasing a house to ask why they had received another bill.

At the bottom of the letter was a disclaimer: “The company Record Transfer Services is not affiliated with the State of WI or the County Recorder. … This offer serves as a solicitation for services and [is] not to be interpreted as a bill due.”

“For people who don’t understand the real estate process or that a deed exists, they think they have to pay this,” says Cori Lamont, director of regulatory affairs with the Wisconsin Realtors Association.

Source: realtybiznews