What is a recorded notice on title?
A recorded notice is any document filed in your home's public land record to tell others about something that affects the property. Once it's recorded, anyone who searches that record can see it.
A few words first. Your deed is the document that passed the home to you. Your title is your legal ownership. The county recorder (in some places the clerk or register of deeds) is the office that keeps these papers. Recording means filing a document with that office so it joins the public file for your home.
Many kinds of notices are recorded every day. A lis pendens, for example, warns that a lawsuit could affect who owns a property. Cornell's Legal Information Institute explains that it "warns all persons that any interests acquired during the pendency of the suit are subject to its outcome."
The law calls this "constructive notice." In general, a recorded document counts as notice to future buyers, even ones who never looked. What a particular notice means legally depends on your state's law and on what the notice says. A real estate lawyer in your state can tell you more.
Why does a notice on your title help?
Because the people who catch deed fraud are the ones reading your home's record before a closing. A notice puts a clear instruction in that record: check with the real owner.
The county itself won't catch a fake deed. California's Department of Real Estate says "the county recorder is not responsible for detecting a fraudulent document" and "does not look beyond the document itself." So a forged deed can be recorded like any other.
Fraud attempts are rising. Criminals often pose as the owner of a home they don't own and try to sell it.
of title companies saw someone try to sell a property by posing as its owner in 2025, up from 28% in the 2024 study
Source: ALTA Critical Issues Study: Seller Impersonation Fraud, September 14, 2026 (245 title companies). These are attempts, not completed thefts.
Title companies stop most of these attempts while they clear a title before closing. That is the step where they read the record and check that the seller is real.
Title companies most often catch fake sellers before closing, not at recording
Share of title companies that say they at least somewhat commonly catch seller impersonation at each stage
Show the numbers
| Clearing the title before closing | 87% |
|---|---|
| Signing and closing | 68% |
| Ordering the title search | 42% |
| Recording or after closing | 27% |
Source: ALTA 2026 Critical Issues Study, Exhibit 9, September 14, 2026. Firms could pick more than one stage.
A notice works at the stage where checking already happens. It doesn't ask the title company to do anything new. It tells them who to ask and how.
How does Still My Home's recorded notice work?
We confirm you're the owner, record a notice with your county, and send you any request to approve a sale or loan. Here is each step.
- Sign up and pay. Enter your name, email, phone and the address of the home. The price is $199 a year per home, with no extra fees.
- Prove you're the owner, once. You show a photo ID and take a live selfie. Our identity partner checks them, and we match your name to the name on the deed. Your ID images go to the partner, not to us. We keep only the result and the name on the ID. If a company or trust owns the home, you add one document showing you can sign for it.
- We record the notice with your county. We file it with your county recorder, and it joins the public record for your home. You can download the county's copy from your dashboard.
- Someone asks. A title company, lender or agent who finds the notice enters its number at stillmyhome.com/verify. We confirm their work email before the request reaches you. Asking is free.
- You answer. You get one question by text and email. Only the person we verified can answer. We email the company a written answer with a time stamp for its file.
Here is roughly what the recorded page says. The wording on your notice may differ by county.
And here is the question you get when someone asks:
If you're selling, say yes and the closing goes ahead as usual. If you're not, say no. The request stops, and the company is told the owner said no. Then talk to us. If you're not sure, you can talk to a person before you answer. We never answer for you, and we don't override your answer.
We will never ask you to approve a sale by replying to an email or over the phone. If anyone calls or emails asking you to approve a sale, it isn't us.
You can also add up to three people, such as an adult child, who get a copy of every request. They can't answer for you.
A forger can copy your signature. A forger cannot answer as you.
Who sees a notice recorded with the county recorder?
Anyone who searches your home's record, and above all the title company handling a sale or loan. Before a sale or loan closes, the title company usually runs a title search. Indiana's Department of Insurance describes it as "a detailed examination of the historical, public records concerning the property," including deeds and court records.
Your home's public file
- Your deed
Shows the home passed to you - Your mortgage, if you have one
Shows the lender's loan on the home - Other recorded papers
Liens, releases, older deeds - The notice on title
Says to get the owner's approval first, and how to ask
Kept by your county recorder
Who reads it before a deal
- Title companies
Search the file before a sale or loan closes - Lenders
Usually need a title search before they lend - Buyers and their agents
Can look the file up, and their title company does - You
Get the request when someone asks, and answer it
The notice tells each of them to ask you
Each notice is recorded with the county where the home is. We record in every county in the United States, so your home is covered wherever it is.
What does a recorded notice do, and what doesn't it do?
A notice adds a check before a sale or loan. It doesn't change your ownership, and it can't stop a forged deed from being filed.
| It does | It doesn't |
|---|---|
| Yes: Sit in your public record where title companies look | No: Stop the county from recording a forged deed |
| Yes: Tell them to get your approval and how to ask | No: Help in a deal where nobody searches the record |
| Yes: Send requests only to the owner we verified | No: Change who owns your home |
| Yes: Give the company a written, time-stamped answer | No: Touch your mortgage, taxes or insurance |
| Yes: Let a real sale close once you say yes | No: Replace your county's free fraud alert |
Checked against how the service works on October 13, 2026.
That's why a notice works best with an alert. The notice asks people to check with you before a deal. A county alert tells you if a document is filed anyway. Our guide to home title protection compares every kind of protection side by side.
How do you protect your title before fraud happens?
Start with the free steps, then decide whether a notice is worth it for your home.
- Sign up for your county's free alert. Many counties email you when a document is recorded in your name. Our guide to Property Fraud Alert shows how.
- Check your record once a year. Look up your home on the county website and make sure the last deed is yours. Our six free steps walk you through it.
- Think about a notice for homes at higher risk. Title companies say vacant land, homes whose owners live elsewhere, and homes owned free and clear are common targets. Our deed theft guide explains why.
Frequently asked questions
What does it mean to record a document on your title?
It means filing it with the county office that keeps land records, usually the county recorder. The office adds it to the public file for your property. From then on, anyone who searches that file, such as a title company, can see it.
What is a lis pendens notice?
Lis pendens is Latin for "suit pending." It is a notice recorded on a property to warn that a lawsuit could affect who owns it. Anyone who buys while the case is open takes the property subject to the result. A notice like ours is different: it doesn't claim anything against your home. It asks people to check with you.
What is the best proof of ownership of a home?
Your recorded deed. The copy at the county recorder is the official one, so you can look it up even if you've lost your paper copy. An owner's title insurance policy from when you bought is useful too.
Can a recorded notice stop a fraudulent sale?
It can't stop anything by itself. It works when the people handling a sale or loan read it and ask you. Title companies search the public record before a closing as part of their normal work. A deal that skips a title search could miss it, so keep your free county alert too.
Does a notice on title affect my mortgage or my ability to sell?
No. It doesn't change who owns your home, and it doesn't touch your mortgage, taxes or insurance. When you sell or refinance, you answer yes to the request and the closing goes ahead.
Can the notice be removed?
Yes. You can ask us to remove it whenever you want.
Protect your home with Still My Home
Sign up for your county's free alert first. Then see whether a notice on your title makes sense for your home.
See how it worksFree ways to protect your titleSources
- Critical Issues Study: Seller Impersonation Fraud, American Land Title Association, September 14, 2026 (Exhibit 9 and summary)
- Seller impersonation fraud more than doubled since 2024, Jonathan Delozier, HousingWire, September 14, 2026
- What should you do if you learn that a forged and/or fraudulent deed has been recorded against your real property?, California Department of Real Estate, March 17, 2012
- Recording, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, reviewed August 2025
- Lis pendens, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
- What is a title search, Indiana Department of Insurance, checked October 13, 2026
- Home title lock insurance? Not a lock at all, Larissa Bungo, Federal Trade Commission, August 26, 2024