Protect Your Real Estate Transactions from the Risk of Forgery!
Buying and selling properties can be common but risky undertakings when done without enough precaution. You can avert most unwanted scenarios by having a clear title that seals your ownership rights and deflates all potential issues, such as liens and other outstanding claims. If you secure this area, your transaction will be smooth and straightforward. Otherwise, you can be embroiled in disputes, delays, and legal matters. That’s why real estate experts suggest extensive title searches and fixing defects before taking complete ownership.
How do you ensure this? A title agency can help. They can protect your investment from forgery. Yes, forgery is one of the hidden risks of real estate deals. Doing anything without accounting for it can be a huge mistake. Let’s broach this matter briefly.
- Forgery types
Forgery refers to document tampering with the intent of defrauding the involved party. It’s like copying your parent’s signature on the school’s permission slip without letting them know. Faking someone’s signature and using those falsified documents in the transactions is fraud. While many such incidents get nipped in the bud, some can still fall through the cracks and remain oblivious for a long time. Hence, it’s better to use professional title services to deter those unwanted acts. Otherwise, your property purchase experience will be open to the risk of forged deeds, forged mortgage releases, etc.
As you know, a legal paper, a deed, determines the ownership of the piece of the land. If someone forges your signature, the perpetrator can claim ownership of your so-called property. Such occurrences are often witnessed in divorce cases, where a spouse commits this step without the other partner’s knowledge. Or, an older family member under duress can take such a step. Regarding the deed, another risk is the document is inauthentic while the signature is genuine. Like this, mortgage release forgery is also a reality.
Mortgage lender gives a clean chit when the homeowner has cleared his loan. It’s a routine and legal thing. However, some sellers show forged mortgage releases to buyers to win their confidence while the loan is still due. So, when the property is sold, they get proceeds without settling the old loan. But the burden will be yours (the new owner) now because mortgage liens are related to properties, not individuals.
- Benefit of title insurance
Fraud and forgery cases can be rare, but they can threaten your ownership. Title insurance covers them and other risks to secure your transaction experience. Suppose you have been the victim of forgery after the deal closure. Title insurance can cover the purchase amount of the house till you own it. If you claim insurance, the professionals will look after the entire process to reduce stress.
A title company takes proactive steps to safeguard its customers from fraud. When they notice any red flags, such as someone insisting on using their notary, attempts to sell a property hurriedly, estate properties whose owner had died, etc., these professionals pause the transaction until they have investigated all the aspects and gotten the green signal. That’s why it is worth hiring their services.
