I know what a deed is, of course.
And I know what theft is, of course.
I just had not heard those 2 words linked together.
So I looked it up and came across this great article from Kiplinger:
How to Protect Your Home From Deed Theft
The scheme works like this: Fraudsters pick out a house—often a second home, rental, vacation home or vacant house—to “steal.” Using personal information gleaned from the internet or elsewhere, they assume your identity or claim to represent you. Armed with forged signatures and fake IDs, they file paperwork with the county’s register of deeds to transfer ownership of your property to themselves or a third party. They then sell the home or borrow against it, stealing your equity. When they fail to make payments on a loan secured by your property, you could end up in foreclosure or be unable to sell, refinance or pass the home on to heirs.
Scary stuff, folks. Something else to which all of us should pay more attention.
Grace & Peace & Love to you all -
Matt