Stealing Your Home From Underneath You - the Growing Problem of
Title Fraud
Imagine this. A Canadian homeowner - a successful professional
with a lovely home in a nice neighbourhood - arrives home after
work one day to find a "For Sale" sign on his lawn. Imagining
that it may be a practical joke, he asks his wife if she's
unhappy with the house! But his wife has no idea why the sign is
there, or who put it up. It turns out that the couple are the
victims of title fraud - a crime that's on a worrisome rise here
in Canada.
How is it possible? While there are several variations on the
crime, the basics are usually the same. The fraudster will
target a home and falsify legal documents to create a convincing
paper trail to "prove" their ownership of the home. They then
proceed to mortgage the home and disappear with the money.
Often, the rightful owners will have no idea what's going on
until a financial institution tracks them down to demand
payments on a loan they never knew existed. In some cases, the
fraudsters have actually stolen their identity: an especially
difficult twist for the homeowner, who must also clear his/her
name.
The easy access to electronic data -- on both people and
property -- may be contributing to the rise in title fraud,
which is costing homeowners and financial institutions millions
of dollars each year. And though it's a serious challenge to the
lenders, it can be financially devastating to the homeowner.
Fortunately, Canadians have access to some protection against
title fraud. A growing number of Canadian homeowners are
purchasing "title insurance": a product that offers some
specific protections against title fraud and other potential
pitfalls: