How deed fraud works, and the free county alert that can catch it early

The day a forged quitclaim deed was filed on their property, a Hillsborough County, Florida, couple knew about it. They had signed up for the county clerk's free property fraud alert, and it went off that same day, the Hillsborough County Clerk said.

The woman behind the deed, Michelle Cherry, was sentenced on May 27, 2025, to 15 years in prison for her part in stealing multiple properties using forged signatures on quitclaim deeds. An alert doesn't end the problem. Another couple targeted in the scheme, the Bilbys, got a prompt alert and still faced a year-and-a-half legal fight before a court order returned their property, the clerk's office said. The deeds for the disputed properties in the Tampa area will be erased from the public record, according to prosecutors, Bay News 9 reported.

That's deed fraud, also called home title fraud or title theft: a criminal illegally transfers the title of your home into their own name or a fake identity, then files the fake deed with the county recorder's office, according to California's Department of Financial Protection and Innovation. The most at risk, the department says, are elderly, recently deceased, or absentee homeowners.

From there, criminals can sell the home or land, take out a mortgage on it, or even rent it out, forcing the real owners to go to court to get it back, the FBI's Boston office warned. Some scammers comb public records for vacant land with no mortgage, then pose as the owner and ask a real estate agent to list it. "Anyone who is a victim of this type of fraud should report it to us," said Jodi Cohen, special agent in charge of FBI Boston.

Real estate fraud complaints to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center rose to 12,368 in 2025, from 9,359 in 2024, and reported losses climbed to about $275.1 million, from $173.6 million. That category also includes rental and timeshare scams, so not all of it is deed theft. People 60 and older filed 2,473 of those complaints and reported $123.7 million in losses.

Many counties now offer a free alert that tells you when a document is recorded in your name or on your property. Here's how a few of them work:

• Florida: A 2023 state law required every county clerk to run a free recording notification service by July 1, 2024. Under the statute, an alert must go out within 24 hours after a document is recorded for a name you're monitoring. In Hillsborough County, sign up online or call (800) 728-3858 to get alerts by email or phone for documents recorded under your name or your business's name.
• California: SB 255, signed in October 2025, requires every county to set up a recorder notification program by January 1, 2027. The recorder will mail a notice within 30 days when a deed, quitclaim deed, mortgage, or deed of trust is recorded. Los Angeles County already runs its own program.
• Maricopa County, Arizona: The recorder's free Title Alert monitors documents recorded under an individual's or business's name. It only covers documents recorded after you sign up.
• Cook County, Illinois: The clerk's free Property Fraud Alert will call or email you whenever a document is recorded against your property, or a loved one's.

To find yours, search your county clerk's or recorder's website for "property fraud alert."

What an alert can't do

An alert won't stop a fake deed from being filed. "While it cannot prevent a fraudulent deed from being filed, it can allow you to respond quickly to address any problems," the Miami-Dade Clerk says.

The cleanup usually falls on you. Once a fraudulent document is recorded, it's up to the homeowner to petition the court, at their own expense, for an order removing it, Cook County's clerk says. In Guilford County, North Carolina, the register of deeds notes it doesn't have the authority to remove fraudulent documents on its own. Miami-Dade's clerk tells victims to report it to local law enforcement immediately and explains that a court judgment quieting title should direct the clerk to remove the fake deed from the official record.

Title insurance may not help. Traditional owner's title insurance doesn't cover fraud after you buy the home, California's financial protection department says. The American Land Title Association says its Homeowner's Policy of Title Insurance does cover forgery after purchase, but regulators haven't approved it in every state. The association also offers an endorsement, called ALTA 49.1, that adds forgery coverage to an existing owner's policy.

The schemes can be big. In February, federal prosecutors in Los Angeles charged a real estate broker and two others in a scheme that allegedly included the fraudulent sale of a $1.5 million home in Burbank, which brought in about $975,000 in loan proceeds, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. The charges are allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent.

Sources

• California DFPI: Home title fraud, the silent heist that could steal your house
• FBI Boston: Quitclaim deed fraud is on the rise
• FBI IC3: 2025 Internet Crime Report
• Florida Statutes 28.47: Recording notification service
• Hillsborough County Clerk: Property fraud alert
• Hillsborough County Clerk: Property fraud guilty plea
• Hillsborough County Clerk: Property fraud alert program guide
• Bay News 9: Woman accused of stealing houses in Hillsborough County pleads guilty
• California Legislature: SB 255
• Maricopa County Recorder: Title Alert
• Cook County Clerk: Property fraud unit
• Miami-Dade Clerk: Property fraud
• Guilford County Register of Deeds: Deed fraud information
• American Land Title Association: Combating seller impersonation fraud
• American Land Title Association: Endorsements expand protection against deed fraud
• U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California: Real estate broker and 2 others arrested