Real estate title fraud is a scam that occurs when the homeowner’s identity is stolen in order to sell or refinance their home without their knowledge. The existence of title fraud just demonstrates the need for more protection for homeowners. Protection begins with real estate agents, lawyers, mortgage brokers, and financial institutions putting protections in place to protect homeowners against fraud. Buying a home is the most expensive purchase that the average person can make in their lifetime, so how could the title to your property be changed to someone else without your knowledge?

Let’s dive into the use cases that have made the news recently.

Two properties were sold without the homeowner’s knowledge by fraudsters who used fake IDs to impersonate the homeowners. They hired a realtor, listed the house, and sold it. These people duped real estate agents, lawyers, a major bank, and Ontario’s land registry. Another example had a fraudster attempting to sell the property of a 95-year-old woman, but the family caught it in time. 

In another case, a man attempted to use a fake ID to rent two homes in Toronto but was denied. According to a private investigator working on the cases, the same forged driver’s license was used to rent two Toronto properties that organized crime attempted to sell without the homeowners’ knowledge. This man also attempted to rent other properties but was denied. Thankfully, there are real estate teams and agents that will do their due diligence to make sure that their clients don’t get scammed.