Virtually, everyone is now rushing to invest in real estate. This might sound like a simple transaction where you get a seller and then change the title deed to your name after making payments to become a property owner. This is, unfortunately, a misconception that can mar your property ownership dream. Fraud is one of the primary elements that affect property buyers when looking for the best deal. The commonly targeted buyers are those who opt to handle their transaction with as minimal experts as possible to cut back on their expenses.
Experts in tenant representation in Utah are among the essential experts for your property purchase. These experts will be the intermediaries between you and a property’s seller. They come with the expertise of picking various forms of fraud that you would ordinarily not be aware of. The following are some prevalent forms of property fraud nowadays.
Title Fraud
In this form of property fraud, an individual will steal someone’s title and use it to sell a piece of real estate or get a loan against it. The scammer in this instance will pose as a property owner with the right to sell a property to you. You might think that it is easy to know which document is fake after an online property search. Scammers have gotten very smart and have included some government agencies into their schemes. Thus, a simple online search might be inadequate to discern a real and fake property title.
Foreclosure Fraud
Here, criminals will approach a property owner with issues regarding his or her mortgage payments. They will offer a lower monthly payment schedule and amalgamation loans for the transfer of the property’s title to the lender. Unfortunately, these scammers go behind the property owner’s back to reach out to you with a seemingly lucrative property purchase price. The title will be in their name, and they will advertise the property as a foreclosed one.
Duplicated Listing
Real estate listing platforms come up daily, and it is almost impossible to sift the fake from the genuine ones. Criminals will have a listing platform where they copy legitimate property listings and offer low prices for them. In the belief that they might miss out on a deal, some buyers will even wire deposits for a property overnight before they discover the listing is false. Unfortunately, few people get their cash back or have the criminal apprehended after sending their hard-earned money.
Fake Property Lawyer Profiles
Most people assume that the only expert that they need when buying property is an attorney. There are different platforms where criminals create counterfeit profiles and market themselves as property lawyers. Since your lawyer will hold some of your property’s buying funds before the close of a deal, the fake lawyers will make away with the funds that you have saved for your real estate investment.
There are several articles on how to make out fraudulent property purchase schemes. After going through them, you might assume that you are now well-placed to pick out a scam when investing in property. The above forms of fraud, however, change every day. Get an expert to help you discern and avoid the above types of fraud and others when buying a property.
