What deed theft prevention steps actually work?
The steps that work either warn you early or put a check in front of a sale. No step can stop a county from recording a fake deed. Seminole County, Florida's clerk says it "has no legal authority to refuse a properly prepared document" (Seminole County Clerk).
A few states now ask for more at filing. Since January 1, 2025, Georgia has a process to confirm the identity of the person filing a deed (Georgia Attorney General). Most states don't.
A deed is the document that passes a home from one owner to the next, and your title is your legal ownership. Deed theft is when a criminal forges a deed, or poses as you, to sell your home or borrow against it. Our guide to deed theft explains how it works.
Most owners will never face it. But it is growing, and it is slow and costly to undo.
people reported online real estate fraud to the FBI in 2025, losing more than $275 million
Source: FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, via NAR, April 13, 2026. Covers all online real estate fraud, not only deed theft.
The good news: the law is on your side. "Legally, a forged deed is invalid," says Sarah Frano, a fraud expert at First American Title, in AARP.
Prevention is about catching a fake before a sale or loan closes. Undoing it gets harder once a buyer or lender is involved.
What are the 10 steps, and what does each cost?
Steps 1 to 6 are free. Steps 7 to 10 cost money and suit some owners more than others. Here is the whole list.
| Step | Cost | What it protects against |
|---|---|---|
| 1. County fraud alert | Free | New deeds and loans recorded in your name |
| 2. Yearly record check | Free | Anything filed before you signed up |
| 3. Watch your mail and bills | Free | A changed tax or mailing address |
| 4. Credit freeze | Free | Loans opened in your name |
| 5. Alert for your address | Free | Fake listings of your home or land |
| 6. Check homes you don't live in | Free or a small favor | Sales of empty homes and land |
| 7. Plan for your heirs | Lawyer's fee | Theft of a home after the owner dies |
| 8. Forgery add-on to title insurance | One-time fee | The cost of undoing a forged deed |
| 9. Paid title monitoring | About $10 to $25 a month | Same as Step 1, if your county has no alert |
| 10. Recorded notice on your title | $199 a year with Still My Home | A sale or loan closing without your approval |
Costs: Step 9 from Old Republic Title; Step 10 is our own price. Steps 7 and 8 vary by lawyer, state and policy.
What are the free ways to prevent deed fraud?
Six free steps cover new filings, old filings, your mail, your credit and fake listings. Our guide to protecting your home title for free walks through the first four in detail. Here is the short version.
1. Sign up for your county's fraud alert
Your county emails or texts you when a document is recorded in your name. Search "[your county] property fraud alert" and sign up on the county's own website. The county recorder (in some places the clerk or register of deeds) is the office that keeps land records.
Philadelphia calls its version Deed Fraud Guard, and "all property owners in Philadelphia can register for free" (City of Philadelphia). In New York City, owners who sign up for the Notice of Recorded Document Program get a letter when a new document is recorded (NYC Department of Finance). Our Property Fraud Alert guide shows how to sign up.
2. Check your property record once a year
Look up your home on the county recorder's website and make sure the last deed is yours. The alert only covers new filings, so this catches anything older. New York's Attorney General says simply: "Check your property records yearly" (NY AG).
3. Watch your mail and bills
A missing tax or water bill can mean someone changed your records. Keep your mailing address current with the tax office. The FTC says a sudden stop in utility bills "may be a sign of identity theft" (FTC).
4. Freeze your credit and guard your details
A free credit freeze makes it harder to open loans in your name, though it can't stop a forged deed. The FTC says a freeze "restricts access to your credit file" and "stays in place until you ask the credit bureau to temporarily lift it, or remove it altogether" (FTC). Freeze at Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.
Your personal details are what a forger needs. Fort Bliss's legal assistance office tells families to shred old statements and expired IDs. It also says never to give personal information in reply to a call, text or email you didn't expect (U.S. Army, Fort Bliss).
5. Set an online alert for your address
A free Google Alert on your street address can flag a fake listing. In seller impersonation, a criminal poses as you to sell your property, often before any deed is filed. A county alert would come too late.
"If the scammer lists the property for sale, an alert may help you stop a sale before it happens," says First American's Sarah Frano (AARP). Search your address on big home-sale sites every few months too.
6. Check on homes you don't live in
Visit, or ask a neighbor to call you if they see a "For sale" sign or strangers. Criminals pick properties where nobody will notice.
Criminals posing as sellers favor land and homes whose owners aren't around
Share of title companies naming each property type as a target of seller impersonation
Show the numbers
| Vacant land | 82% |
|---|---|
| Owner lives elsewhere | 72% |
| Owned free and clear | 68% |
| Owner recently died | 55% |
Source: ALTA 2026 Critical Issues Study, via HousingWire, September 14, 2026. Vacant land is rated "at least somewhat common"; the others are "frequently targeted."
The FBI warned in June 2026 that criminals pose as owners of vacant land using fake driver's licenses or passports, new email addresses and internet phone numbers (FBI IC3).
Which paid steps protect your home from title theft?
Paid steps fill the gaps free ones leave: who inherits your home, who pays to fix a forged deed, and who checks with you before a sale. Pick the ones that fit your home.
7. Plan who gets your home
Write a will, and ask a lawyer whether a transfer-on-death deed makes sense in your state. New York's Attorney General warns that scammers target "properties where the homeowner is deceased and the heirs do not legally transfer title." It says transfer-on-death deeds "allow New Yorkers to name who will inherit their property when they die" (NY AG).
If you've inherited a home, put it in the heirs' names soon.
8. Add forgery cover to your title insurance
Ask your title company about ALTA Endorsement 49 (new policies) or 49.1 (existing ones). Title insurance pays to defend your ownership if an old problem with the title turns up.
These two add-ons "help protect homeowners from certain losses caused by deed fraud, forgery and seller impersonation" (ALTA). They cover certain forged transfers that happen after your policy date (Old Republic Title).
The FBI also tells owners to "review your title insurance policy coverage and check for post-policy protection" (FBI IC3). Find your owner's policy from closing first. It may already help.
If you're buying or refinancing, ask about the ALTA Homeowner's Policy, which Kiplinger says covers impersonation and forgery (Kiplinger).
9. Pay for title monitoring only if you need it
Title monitoring sends you an alert after a document is filed, much like a free county alert. It costs about $10 to $25 a month (Old Republic Title). Home Title Lock charges $19.95 a month or $227.40 a year (Home Title Lock).
"You'd only find out AFTER your title got transferred to someone else without your authorization."
Check whether you already have it free. First American Title offers free title monitoring to owners who recently closed on a 1 to 4 family home with it, in 25 states (First American). Paid monitoring makes the most sense if your county has no alert, or you own homes in many counties.
10. Record a notice on your title
A notice recorded with your county tells anyone handling a sale or loan to check with you first. Title companies search your home's record before a sale or loan closes, so the notice sits where they look.
It can't stop a forged deed being recorded, and it only helps if someone reads it. Our guide to how a recorded notice works covers what it does and doesn't do.
Which deed theft prevention steps does your home need?
Every owner should do Steps 1 to 4. Add the rest based on how you own your home. Use this grid to pick.
| Your home | Most important steps | Why |
|---|---|---|
| You live there, with a mortgage | 1 to 4, then 8 | A missing or new mortgage bill is an early sign |
| You live there, paid off | 1 to 4, 8 and 10 | No lender is watching, and paid-off homes are a common target |
| Rental or second home | 1 to 6, then 10 | You're not there to see a sign or a stranger |
| Vacant land | 1, 2, 5, 6 and 10 | Land is the top target, often sold before any deed is filed |
| An older parent's home | 1 to 4 and 7, with you on the alerts | Some places, like New York City, let a relative get the notices too |
| A home you inherited | 7 first, then 1 to 6 | Homes of owners who died are targeted until the title is passed on |
Targets from the ALTA 2026 Critical Issues Study, via HousingWire, and the NY Attorney General. New York City lets owners name a family member or lawyer to receive its notices (NYC Department of Finance).
Your deed theft prevention checklist
- Signed up for the county alert in every county where I own property
- Checked that the last deed on my record is mine, and saved a copy
- Confirmed my mailing address with the tax office
- Froze my credit at Equifax, Experian and TransUnion
- Set an online alert for my address
- Asked someone to keep an eye on any home I don't live in
- Made a will and asked a lawyer about a transfer-on-death deed
- Found my owner's title policy and asked about ALTA 49 or 49.1
- Decided whether a recorded notice fits my home
What should you do if something looks wrong?
Call your county recorder, then the police, then a real estate lawyer, the same week. Ask the recorder for a copy of the document you don't recognize. An alert can be paperwork you expected, or a filing for someone with the same name.
If it is a fake, report it to the police and your district attorney, and to the FBI at ic3.gov if money or email was involved. Our guide on what to do if a fraudulent deed is filed gives every step in order.
Frequently asked questions
How do you protect your home after it is paid off?
Do the free steps first: the county alert, a yearly record check, a watch on your mail and a credit freeze. With no mortgage, no lender is watching the home, and title companies say paid-off homes are frequently targeted. Ask about a forgery add-on to your title insurance and think about a recorded notice.
Can someone sell your property without you knowing?
They can try. In seller impersonation, a criminal poses as the owner with a fake ID and sells through a real agent and title company. The FBI warned about this for vacant land in June 2026. A county alert, an online alert for your address and a neighbor who watches the property help you catch it early.
Can someone steal your home title if you have a mortgage?
Yes. A forged deed can be recorded on any home, with or without a loan. A mortgage does mean you get regular statements, so a missing bill or a strange new loan is easier to spot. The free steps still apply.
How do you protect your home from title theft before it happens?
You can't stop a county from recording a deed that looks proper, but you can make a fake much harder to use. Sign up for alerts so you hear about filings fast, and record a notice so title companies check with you first. Plan for your heirs so a home isn't left in the name of an owner who has died.
Is home title monitoring worth it?
For most owners, a free county alert does the same job. The FTC notes that monitoring tells you only after your title has been transferred. Paid monitoring can make sense if your county has no alert or you own property in many counties.
Where is deed theft most common?
Title companies see it most with vacant land, homes whose owners live elsewhere, paid-off homes and homes whose owner recently died. Big cities have set up their own help: New York City has a Mayor's Office of Deed Theft Prevention.
Start with Step 1 today
Signing up for your county's alert takes a few minutes. Then decide which paid steps fit your home.
Sign up for your county's alertSee how Still My Home worksSources
- Property Fraud Alerts, Seminole County Clerk, undated
- Online real estate fraud climbed to $275M in 2025, FBI says, National Association of Realtors, April 13, 2026
- Do you own property? Protect yourself from seller impersonation fraud, AARP, Matt Alderton, updated September 21, 2026
- Deed fraud: how to protect your home from title theft, Old Republic Title, checked October 13, 2026
- Sign up for deed fraud protection, City of Philadelphia, checked October 13, 2026
- Mayor's Office of Deed Theft Prevention, NYC Department of Finance, checked October 13, 2026
- Deed theft, New York State Office of the Attorney General, checked October 13, 2026
- Home title lock insurance? Not a lock at all, Federal Trade Commission, Larissa Bungo, August 26, 2024
- New credit law FAQs, Federal Trade Commission, October 4, 2018
- Seller impersonation fraud more than doubled since 2024, HousingWire, Jonathan Delozier, September 14, 2026 (ALTA 2026 Critical Issues Study)
- Protect your property from illegal sales through parcel owner impersonation (I-061626-PSA), FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, June 16, 2026
- Policy forms: ALTA Endorsements 49 and 49.1, Forgery, American Land Title Association, forms dated August 1, 2025
- Plans and pricing, Home Title Lock, checked October 13, 2026
- Free title monitoring for homeowners, First American Title, checked October 13, 2026
- Title theft and unsolicited real estate, brokerage, and mortgage solicitations, Georgia Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division, May 7, 2024
- 3 practical tips you can take to reduce the risk of home title theft, U.S. Army Fort Bliss Legal Assistance Office, Leonid Roudik, July 18, 2025
- How to protect your home from deed and title theft, Kiplinger, March 23, 2026