Is home title theft really an issue?

As stated in the ad, according to a former FBI agent, it is the largest growing crime in the country.

But hey, call me crazy, if a bank lends money to a criminal using my home as collateral, well, that's on the damn bank.

I have no idea - but it seems to me that if a financial institution gets defrauded by a con-man using your property as a tool - then that's on the financial instiution. They should have better controls.

Now in the real world - fighting such a legal battle would be expensive and I have no idea if my supposition above is how the law looks at the situation.

The larger issue from what I know was fraudulent instructions for wiring money at close. There have been a multitude of scenarios where the title company has been sent fake accounts for paying off loans/mortgages.

My house is paid off and the title (or whatever they call it) is registered under our name at the parish courthouse.

Is there any chance someone could take out a home equity loan on it without our knowledge?

Here's the more pertinent question.

Why is the homeowner responsible for the protection of their home title when it's the county holding that document?

The county is being very careless if they allow unverifiable acces to a homeowner's property title and should be held accountable for allowing the theft of that title.

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My house is paid off and the title (or whatever they call it) is registered under our name at the parish courthouse.

Is there any chance someone could take out a home equity loan on it without our knowledge?

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Yes there's a chance, albeit a small one. I'm in the same boat and because of those commercials, I've been checking the city-parish website every couple months to make sure nothing funny is going on.

I mean you'd think rolling up into a bank with just a fake ID and some bogus paperwork wouldn't be enough to get a mortgage on a house but you never know so I take a peek from time to time.

No they bank has massive compliance when it comes to loans. the verification of employment by 3rd parties. ID's requrired to apply for the loan. It's just paid advertisment praying on the fear factor of people.

Plenty of legal ways to steal property. My uncle a year or so before he passed had sold 8 acres to a guy but apparently never actually got paid. Up until a few weeks before he died my uncle told my dad he was still in the process of working out the payment… somewhere in that time frame the guy sold the property to my uncle’s neighbor. When she died he demanded full payment from her husband or he’d begin seizing the property. Apparently no one had any idea what he was doing until my uncle died and this a-hole showed up at the funeral trying to collect. My older brother went into complete a-hole mode and hired estate attorneys to figure out what was going on and then it all unraveled.

Word to the wise, if you have older parents or relatives talk to them regularly and make sure no one has got their ear. Lots of people will befriend elderly people and “help” them out around their property to gain their trust. You don’t want to find them in a position where someone has convinced them to quick deed their property over for some sort of financial assistance

No, it's not an issue. It's complete bullshite.

Any lending institution that lends money on fraudulent title would lose that money. The actual owner would win 100 percent of the time.

I guess maybe they pay to fight it, but it doesn't seem like it would take much.