Read the real estate transfers and see a transaction that you didn’t make—with your name?
It might be time to sign up for property fraud alerts.
Available through Chippewa County, property fraud alert lets you know via email when a name you submit to Chippewa County appears on a document recorded in the Register of Deeds. So who’s most at risk?
“They target vacant land,” Chippewa County Register of Deeds Melanie McManus said while presenting the program at Boyd Village Board April 8. “You’re not paying attention to that like you would a house.” By recording a sale of vacant land, property fraud allows someone to sell land they don’t own, resulting in problems when the buyer and the owner realize what’s happened, being left with the aftermath.
Property Fraud Alert looks to avoid this scenario. Interested to sign up?
Following are three easy ways to do so.
• Go to http://pfa.fidlar.com/WIChippewa and register your personal name or business.
• Call the Chippewa County Register of Deeds office at 715-726-7994, or
• Go to https://www.propertyfraudalert.com
Perhaps best of all, notification is free—but not all notifications are evidence of fraud. One common slip?
Satisfying an old mortgage.
That gets a lot of people,” McManus said. “The old mortgage was just satisfied and that’s why you get a notification.”
For all other instances, it’s best to stay on the alert.
