Lee County, Florida Lots Owned From Afar: Get the Free Property Fraud Alert

Police say that between January and December 2020, a Houston man posed as the owners of empty lots in Cape Coral and tried to sell their land¹. They say he sold one owner's lot and kept the money. He was arrested in July 2021 on felony charges, and we found no public report of how the case ended².

Cape Coral police warned that year that these scams mostly target people who own land there but live out of the country³. If that sounds like you, the free Lee County property fraud alert is your first tool.

The Lee Clerk emails you within 24 hours when a deed or mortgage with your name or parcel number is recorded, or filed in the public land records⁴. A deed is the document that passes ownership.

Why does a Lee County lot owner need the property fraud alert?

Empty land owned from far away is the top target for fake sellers, and no one lives on it to notice. The alert tells you within a day when a deed is recorded, wherever you live.

Lee County has a great deal of that land. A 2006 study in The Florida Geographer put the county's platted lots at over 350,000, meaning lots drawn on a recorded subdivision map. About 250,000 were vacant, many in Cape Coral and Lehigh Acres, and most Lehigh Acres lots were first sold to out-of-state investors⁵.

Title companies check a property's title, or legal ownership, before a sale, and they see the same risk. Their trade group, ALTA, says criminals favor owners who live outside the local market, because it's harder to check who they are⁶.

Many attempts are caught. In 2021, WINK News told of an agent who listed a Gulf-access lot in Cape Coral for a man claiming to be a German owner on a trip. A buyer offered $150,000, but the title company asked questions, and the "seller" faded away⁷.

In ALTA's 2026 survey, only one in four title firms that saw a fake-seller attempt also reported paying a claim for this fraud⁶.

Some sales slip through. In August 2021, a French owner's land in Southwest Florida was sold without her knowing, and neither the agent nor the title company caught it⁷. Our guide to fake-seller schemes shows how these sales are set up.

Do you own an empty lot or a home in Lee County?

Both kinds of owners should have the free alert. A lot owner needs a few extra steps, because no neighbor on the land will spot trouble for you.

A Fort Myers police detective put the land risk plainly in 2025.

How do you sign up for the Lee County property fraud alert?

Use the Lee Clerk's online form with your name, your email and your STRAP number. It's free, and Clerk Kevin Karnes says it takes less than two minutes, even on a phone⁸.

The STRAP number is Lee County's 17-character ID for a parcel, or piece of land. It may be on your deed, and the Property Appraiser's site lists it too⁹.

By September 2025, more than 70,000 owners had signed up, out of about 550,000 parcels in the county⁸. Karnes said owners used to learn of a fake deed when the November tax bill didn't come. The alert, he said, cuts that from "months to 24 hours"¹².

What else should a land owner check each year?

Make sure the county still lists you as the owner, at an address where you get mail. That address is how an honest agent or buyer reaches you.

Cape Coral police told agents to contact real owners using details from the last sale³. The FBI tells land buyers to mail a certified letter to the address on the tax record¹³.

The differenceAlerts tell you after. We ask you first.Protect my homestill my home.

What happened in recent Lee County cases?

Three cases from 2023 to 2025 show what police and prosecutors here have seen: fake land listings, a fake deed on a home under repair, and a fake ID.

Since 2024, that's a first-degree felony in Florida. The law covers anyone who lists or advertises land for sale knowing the "seller" has no legal title or right to sell it¹⁶.

Why can't the Clerk turn away a fake deed?

Florida law tells the Clerk to record a deed that meets the state's form rules and comes with the fee¹⁷. The Clerk checks the paperwork, not whether the signer really owns the land.

In Florida, the Clerk is also the county recorder of deeds¹⁷. The form rules in section 695.26 cover printed names, mailing addresses, witnesses and the name of the notary, the official who checks a signer's identity¹⁸. Karnes said it plainly in 2025: "once my office receives it, we have to accept it"¹².

Lee County tried a photo ID rule. From July 2023 to June 2025, a pilot required people recording a deed with the Lee Clerk to show a government photo ID. The law behind it ended on July 1, 2025^14,19.

About 95,000 deeds went through, and the ID records were used in four fraud cases. The Clerk called that too small a sample to judge¹⁴.

What should you do if an alert shows a deed you didn't sign?

Call the police where the property is, then start a quiet title case to clear the record. The Lee Clerk, the Tax Collector and the State Attorney's Office give victims these steps⁴.

First, open the document, since a common name can bring alerts about a stranger's papers. Rather not click an email link? Search the Clerk's Official Records for the file number (CFN) in the email, or call (239) 533-5007^4,9,11.

The first days after a bad deed are covered in our fraudulent deed guide. If someone posed as you to sell your land, the FBI also asks for a report at ic3.gov¹³.

We checked every phone number, link and Clerk rule in this guide against its source on October 25, 2026.

Frequently asked questions