“Viewpoints” is a place on Chapelboro where local people are encouraged to share their unique perspectives on issues affecting our community. If you’d like to contribute a column on an issue you’re concerned about, interesting happenings around town, reflections on local life — or anything else — send a submission to viewpoints@wchl.com.
Register of Deeds Fights Real Estate Fraud
A perspective from Mark H. Chilton
Real estate fraud has been on the rise lately, including several recent cases in our own backyard. According to national experts, title fraud now costs property owners over $5 billion per year nationally, with the average victim suffering more than $100,000 in economic losses.
As your Orange County Register of Deeds, I have worked hard to prevent this kind of fraud. For instance, we put new screening protocols in place and have trained our frontline staff to watch for suspicious documents, but it’s a constant battle. Fraudsters get more sophisticated all the time and the increase in online registrations, while great for efficiency and taxpayer savings, does open new doors to their scams. I am always asking: what else can I do to protect our citizens?
Private fraud alert services that advertise on late night TV can cost $15 or more per month, but are they really worth the cost? Now, at least in Orange County, real property owners no longer have to ask that question. With the Orange County Register of Deeds’ new Fraud Alert service, you can get the same results for free!
It takes just a moment to securely register online with the Fraud Alert service. You can even register various forms of your name, such as with or without middle names and initials – like Mark H. Chilton and Mark Hayes Chilton – or pre-marriage names. Once in the system, you will get an immediate Fraud Alert email if anyone registers a document in Orange County with your name on it! And you don’t even need to be a property owner – the Fraud Alert service covers all recordings, from real estate filings to powers of attorney and assumed name certificates.
An email may not necessarily mean fraud – for example, the system will alert you when a normal real estate sale or financing document is recorded – but you will have the information you need to decide whether to contact your Orange County Register of Deeds to find out what is happening.
Our Fraud Alert service gives you the ability to take swift action against fraud and could save you and your loved ones time, money, effort and stress.
To sign up for Fraud Alert with our simple registration process, go to the Orange County Register of Deeds Fraud Alert website at:
https://fraudalertme.com/ORANGENCNW/FRAUDDETECTION.ASP
And get yourself a little piece of mind today – in under a minute – for free!
“Viewpoints” on Chapelboro is a recurring series of community-submitted opinion columns. All thoughts, ideas, opinions and expressions in this series are those of the author, and do not reflect the work or reporting of 97.9 The Hill and Chapelboro.com.
What a great idea. Thanks, Mark!