Graham Jaehnig/Daily Mining Gazette Houghton County Clerk and Register of Deeds Jennifer Kelly is encouraging county residents to subscribe to Property Fraud Alert, a free, county-sponsored service to protect property owners from potential fraud.

HOUGHTON – Houghton County Clerk and Register of Deeds Jennifer Kelly and Houghton County Sheriff Josh Saaranen are encouraging residents to subscribe to a program that can protect them from possible fraud.

Property Fraud Alert is a free, county-sponsored online subscription service that monitors the subscriber’s name or business in the local Register of Deeds or Recorder’s office. It sends an immediate notification–via email, text, or phone–whenever a document is recorded under that name, giving an early warning system against deed and mortgage fraud.

“It is set up for anytime a person’s name comes through the Register of Deeds office, if they are signed up for the program,” Kelly said. “It lets them know that there has been activity in their name, whether legitimate or not, they will be notified.”

While Property Fraud Alert does not prevent fraud from happening; it provides an early warning system for property owners to take appropriate actions should they determine possible fraudulent activity has taken place.

A common property fraud example is a criminal filing a bogus deed making it appear that the actual owner had transferred ownership of a parcel to someone else. The criminal then takes that deed to a bank, fraudulently obtains a mortgage and then disappears with a large amount of money.

Saaranen said there are several types of property fraud and it is committed by people locally, in the U.S. and overseas.

“People are using ingenious ways of finding was to use our names to fraudulently file liens on properties,” he said.

In one local case, an individual had lien placed on his property fraudulently, said Saaranen.

“We’ve also seen other behavior locally that indicates there is a potential for more fraud cases in the future.”

Saaranen, who is subscribed to the program, said he had recently conducted a property transaction and anticipated paperwork being filed with the Register of Deeds Office.

“I really became impressed when I received an alert with my name attached to it immediately, when the paperwork was filed,” he said, “even quicker than anticipated. I felt very comfortable knowing my name is protected in that regard.”

From a law enforcement perspective, he said, the benefit of the program is the sooner the Sheriff’s Office is contacted, the greater the chances are of identifying the person committing the fraud.

According to the FBI, property and mortgage fraud is the fastest growing white-collar crime in the United States. As the threat of mortgage fraud and identity theft crimes continue to rise, victims of these types of fraudulent activities are frequently unaware their homes or identity have been stolen.

Kelly said as word of the program is spreading, more people are subscribing to it. Last year alone, she said, about 3,000 county residents subscribed.

“So, our numbers are going up,” she said, “but they’re still not as high as I’d like to see them.”

After a subscriber receives an alert, Kelly said the first step taken should be to contact her.

“If you haven’t (made any transactions), you need to call, because then we need to look up that document number and see how much activity there has been,” she said. “Then, we know what to do next, whether it’s calling an attorney talking the prosecutor, talking to the sheriff – whatever we need to do.”

All information entered into the Property Fraud Alert site is used solely for the tracking and notification of recording activity. The owner of this website, Fidlar Technologies, in partnership with Houghton County, agrees to never resell this information to any individual or company.

Signing up with Property Fraud Alert (PFA) takes a few moments and participants will be notified via email or phone, or both, only when the exact name they have provided is listed on a recorded document. Property owners can sign up online or in the Houghton County Clerk or Register of Deeds offices to monitor documents and receive notice of activity, Kelly said.

“This is such a great thing for the people of Houghton County to sign up for, because no matter what, if they did a transaction with the bank or whoever, or if they didn’t, they’re going to be alerted either way, so it’s a win-win situation.”