Maine realtors, county registers and others are waiting for an upcoming vote in the Legislature on LD 353  which would establish a commission to find ways of preventing deed or title fraud.

At the public hearing, title associations, deed registers, real estate and law enforcement professionals testified in support of the bill proposed by Sen. Henry Ingwersen of York County. March 12, it was unanimously voted "ought to pass" by the Judiciary Committee. 

 LD 353 calls for "... interested parties to dig in together and come up with any findings and recommendations that would help prevent deed fraud in Maine ..." It creates a 13-member commission charged with looking at how real property is recorded, remote notarization of documents and existing penalties for the crime.

Some concerned property owners purchase "title lock insurance" because it is widely advertised as insurance against this type of fraud.

But as the FTC advises on its website: "First, know that 'title lock insurance' is not title insurance ... it’s not insurance at all. Instead, it’s a service that claims to monitor your deed to protect you against title fraud. You’d only find out AFTER your title got transferred to someone else without your authorization. So much for the lock. And you can check your title for free with your state’s land records office, and some areas even have a free notification program that allows you to sign up for alerts about any legal changes, like ownership of a property."

Lincoln County's Registry of Deeds offers property owners the same service for free. Created in 2022, the alert notifies owners if any document is recorded in their name. As Register Rebecca Wotton recently explained, "Anyone who has an email address should sign up." To date, only 746 property owners in Lincoln County have signed up for the alert. She urges property owners to register for a free fraud alert on the Registry of Deeds website.

Wotton said her office receives phone calls from property owners, most living out of state, who have been notified by a realtor that there might be a problem. "They are from owners of vacant property without mortgages or encumbrances on it," she said. “The majority of the calls received are from scared property owners who have seen a news report or infomercial.”

The property owners then contact the Registry, wanting it to "do something." But as Wotton said, "The Registry is responsible for recording property transfers when we receive them, not verifying them."   

"We get random calls," she said, "but what really startled me was when a target of an attempted deed fraud came to the office one day and told me his story. He couldn't believe that someone had used a fake ID to try to take his vacant land. He was very upset." 

Wotton's office encourages victims of deed fraud or attempted deed fraud to contact local law enforcement and file a complaint with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) which takes reports of cyber-enabled crime.

Lincoln County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Rand Maker encourages property owners to use the Registry of Deeds fraud alert system and to notify his office. "If you've been a victim of any fraud report it to us," he said. "Whether it involves $1,000 or $1 million we treat them the same. If you are a victim or suspect you're a victim, reach out to us."

Boothbay Harbor Police Chief Doug Snyder said his department has received calls about deed fraud and also encourages any property owner in Boothbay Harbor who is a victim to contact his department. 

Attorney William Logan of Soule, Soule & Logan said his practice handles a lot of real estate transactions and receives mailings every month from national title companies warning about the amount of title theft. He told the Register he is aware of two types: One which re-directs funds being transferred by wire and the other when a scammer is trying to sell a vacant lot. "It's a tremendous problem," he said.

"You hear about schemes all over the country. We benefit from being a rural county; people know each other and sometimes that's a good thing. Trust your gut. If you haven't gotten a tax bill for your property when you usually get one, check into it," Logan added. "Make sure the town is sending tax bills to you." 

Earlier this month, the FBI's Boston Division issued a warning about increased instances of quit claim deed fraud resulting from scams and involving forged documents purporting to record a transfer of property ownership.

The warning showed that 262 victims in Maine lost $6,253,008 between 2019 and 2023. The FBI urges the public to be proactive in securing their property. Jodi Cohen, special agent in charge of the FBI Boston division, said, “We are urging the public to heed this warning and to take proactive steps to avoid losing your property."

A number of companies provide internet listings of land for sale. A quick search of one, LandSearch, showed 44 undeveloped properties for sale in Lincoln County. The average listing price was $208,077.

Realtor Madeleine Hill testified in support of LD 353 on behalf of Maine Association of Realtors. She told the Register in a phone interview, "A lot of deed fraud targets raw land because the probability of meeting with the seller client face-to-face is less likely than selling a home."

"We do an excellent job as a state on educating our realtors to be as protective as possible for our clients because these attempts are all around us," she explained. She uses Forewarn, a program to help lower risks. Using this program helped her office catch a potential fraudulent sale because the seller's phone numbers differed.

MAR provides a cyber/wire fraud advisory disclaimer about exercising extreme caution when wiring funds during a transaction. "Never wire funds without personally verifying all information with the recipient," she advised. "Never share personal information unless via secure email, encryption or face-to-face delivery with the intended recipient." Be cautious about Wi-Fi transmission, she added, and use email accounts with secure passwords. 

Rebecca Graham is Maine Municipal Association's senior legislative advocate and chairs Edgecomb's planning board. "A large portion of older folks still aren't digitally literate or have internet access. Technology can be a barrier if that's all that's available," she said of the electronic fraud alert system. She pointed to the UK's system which requires a physical copy of a deed for the transfer to happen. Graham said she sees "lots of land that sells without getting listed at all. There is a real value for an in-person notary." 

LD 353 will become law 90 days after signature by the governor if it receives a 2/3 vote of both chambers. The Commission is required to report its findings to the Judiciary Committee by Dec. 31.