Staying A Step Ahead of a Growing Problem
According to the FBI, Property and Mortgage fraud is the fastest growing white-collar crime in the United States. Unfortunately, it has become all too easy for a criminal to record a fraudulent deed, making it appear as if they own your home. Once this step is complete, they can use your home as collateral on a mortgage or even attempt to sell your property to an unsuspecting buyer.
Although this type of crime is rare in Ohio, it is on the rise nationwide. The Mercer County Recorder’s Office has taken a proactive step to provide you with one tool for staying ahead of criminals who prey on property owners.
To address these concerns, your Recorders Office has teamed up to create a notification service that will help you combat the effects of land fraud and other similar fraudulent activities.
Property Fraud Alert (PFA) is a FREE notification service that alerts subscribers via email each time a document is recorded with their name on it in Mercer County. For the Property Fraud Alert system to work as intended, and for notification alerts to be sent, the name that is registered for the alert (first, last, and/or business name) must match exactly what appears on the document that comes into our office. You will need to sign up for the alert multiple times for each variation of a name as it could appear on a document. (Example: Robert, Rob, Bob, Robert L., Rob L., or Bob L.). Do not use periods or commas in the names. Multiple names can be linked to the same email address.
It is highly recommended that you enter all the different ways your name may appear on a legal document. For example, with a name such as Joshua, you will want to register under Joshua and again under Josh. Another example would be multiple variations of the same name, such as Brittany/Britany/Britney etc. Multiple names can be linked to the same email.
To illustrate, let’s use the last name “Van Buren” as our example. This name may at times be spelled with a space in it (“Van Buren”) and at other times with no space (“VanBuren”). For cases like this, it is highly recommended that you make two separate entries with both name variations.
The Fraud Alert is based on an exact name match. If you have or may have any documents with your middle initial on it or full middle name, yes, you will want to include this within the first name field. Do not use periods or commas in the names.
The Fraud Alert is based on an exact name match. If you happen to have a suffix with your name, please enter it in the first name field, after your first name. If you are also entering in a middle initial or middle name, the suffix will be entered in that same first name field behind the middle name. Do not use periods or commas in the names.
Business names should be entered exactly as the business name is spelled, “ACME Printing Company” & “ACME Printing CO”, “Smith & Smith”, “XYZ Corporation” & “XYZ Corp”. Our office usually abbreviates when indexing Corporation – Corp, Association – Assoc, Company -Co, & Partnership – Part. Therefore, if your business name could contain variations similar to this, we highly recommend that you make an additional notification entry with that variation.
Yes, this can occur if another party has the same name & is recording a document at the Mercer County Recorder’s Office.
No, alerts would only be issued for document recordings pertaining to the Mercer County Recorder’s Office.
The email notification will have a link to view the document that was recorded. If this is a questionable document to you, the first step is to contact the Recorder’s Office at 419-586-4232. Your County Recorder also receives every email that you do through this program and is with you every step of the way.
If you feel that possible fraudulent activity has taken place via the notification:
- Contact any other parties whose names may be on the document.
Other parties may be aware of the document and may have mutual concern about the document’s potential impact.
- Contact your attorney.
If you are not sure about the purpose of the referenced document, a private attorney may be able to determine impact and possible action in a timely fashion and minimize the damage and inconvenience of a fraudulent document.
- Contact your lending institution.
If you believe possible fraudulent activity has taken place, contacting your bank, mortgage company, or lending institution in a timely fashion may help your cause.
Office Hours
Monday: 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Tuesday: 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Wednesday: 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Thursday: 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Friday: 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Contact Us
101 N. Main Street, Room 203
Celina, Ohio 45822