Deed fraud has become a growing problem across the nation, where thieves are filing fraudulent deeds with county recorder of deeds offices, effectively stealing a person’s property.

On Thursday, Carbon County Recorder of Deeds Donna Gentile said that her office would begin utilizing the Optical Storage Solutions LANDEX record alert service to provide homeowners with an option to sign up to receive an alert if someone files a deed for their property when they haven’t sold it. Carbon County currently uses LANDEX for its deed recording.

Gentile said her office has been receiving emails and calls from property owners who are concerned about this growing type of theft.

Deed fraud, also known as title theft, occurs when criminals illegally transfer a property’s title without the homeowner’s knowledge using forged documents or fake IDs, often targeting vacant land, or mortgage-free properties.

Gentile said that the county didn’t have any way of alerting of possible deed fraud, noting that the LANDEX system will provide information, but it wouldn’t provide complete protection from the theft occurring.

“If there was a mortgage recorded, this service would alert you that something happened,” she said. “If there was a deed transfer, it would also alert you. ... It does not protect you from deed fraud. It’s like identity theft. We can hope for the best and we can have these monitoring services, but nothing is going to protect us from (someone) stealing a property.”

Gentile said this alert system is to alert you that it has happened, but it provides you with a quicker starting point to begin the process to get it rectified.

“Even though it doesn’t protect you, it does notify you, and then the financial damage could be less because the sooner you find out that your property has been stolen, the easier the resolution is, even if its still going to take a few years to resolve.”

Gentile added that she really started looking into the matter after another county discovered 10 fraudulent deeds in the recorder’s office. This was discovered because the recorder knew the property owner whose land was being stolen.

“That scared me and I thought it’s time to implement this in my office,” she said.

The county commissioners agreed, approving Gentile’s request for the system, which will cost $6,000 initially and $2,000 every year after.

The new alert system will be operational approximately two weeks from now, and will allow property owners to sign up for an alert in the event a deed or mortgage comes through the recorder’s office for their property.

“It’s free for the property owner, but they do need to sign up for it,” Gentile said.

Carbon County currently handles between 8,000 and 10,000 deeds annually.

“We’re doing all we can do here at the county level,” Commissioners’ Chairman Mike Sofranko said. “If you have been calling, we’ve been listening.”

He urged property owners to talk with their legislators about getting stronger legislation passed to help homeowners affected by deed fraud and stressed the importance of the state listening to the county recorders on what they feel should be put in place in any legislation.

More information on how to sign up for this alert system will be posted on the Carbon County website after it is implemented.

If you suspect deed fraud, or would like more information, you can contact Gentile’s office at 570-325-2651.