The Free Deed Fraud Alert Your Town Already Offers

A client recently asked me whether she should pay for one of the home title protection services advertised on the radio. It was a fair question. My answer was that her town clerk already offers most of what that subscription sells, and it is free.

Most towns in Fairfield County now run a land records alert program and almost none of my clients know it exists. It is the rare piece of homeowner advice that costs nothing, takes about five minutes, and is worth doing this week.

What Deed Fraud Actually Looks Like

The mechanism is simpler than most people expect. Land records are public, and the town clerk records documents that are presented in proper form. The clerk’s office is a recorder, not an investigator. Verifying that the signature on a deed belongs to the person whose name is on it is not what the office is there to do.

So a forged deed or a fraudulent mortgage can be recorded against a property that was never the filer’s to encumber. The owner usually finds out much later, and almost always at the worst possible moment: during a refinance, in the middle of a sale, or when a collection notice arrives for a loan they never took. Homes owned free and clear, second homes, rental property, vacant land, and property belonging to someone who has recently died draw the most attention, because they are the least likely to be watched.

The filing does not take your house. It clouds your title, and clearing a clouded title is slow and expensive.

The Free Tool Your Town Clerk Already Offers

The fix that towns have adopted is straightforward. You register your name with the clerk’s recording system, and the system emails you whenever a document is recorded under that name. Most towns let you register several versions of your name at once.

Fairfield County towns run three different systems, so the sign-up page looks different depending on where you live. Bethel, Fairfield, Monroe, Newtown, Redding, Ridgefield, Shelton and Stratford use a system called SearchIQS. Brookfield, New Canaan, New Fairfield, Sherman, Westport and Wilton use PropertyCheck. Greenwich, Norwalk and Stamford run their own. The distinction matters very little to you. The service is the same, and in every town that states a price, the price is nothing.

It takes about five minutes, once.

Where to Sign Up in Your Town

Below are the towns I am asked about most often. I am pointing you at the town clerk rather than at the sign-up form itself, because the clerk’s page is the one that stays current when a town changes systems.

• Fairfield · SearchIQS · fairfieldct.gov/service/town_clerk/land_records.php
• Newtown · SearchIQS · www.newtown-ct.gov/town-clerk/pages/fraud-alert-registration
• Redding · SearchIQS · reddingct.gov/government/town-administration/town-clerk/
• Ridgefield · SearchIQS · ridgefieldct.gov/departments/town_clerk/land_records.php
• Stratford · SearchIQS · www.stratfordct.gov/page/fraud-alert-notifications
• Westport · PropertyCheck · www.westportct.gov/government/departments-a-z/town-clerk-s-office/land-records/setup-property-record-alerts
• Wilton · PropertyCheck · www.wiltonct.gov/town-clerk/pages/property-alert-system

This is not every town that offers one. Most of Fairfield County now runs some version of this program, so if your town is not listed above, start at the town clerk’s page on your town’s website. If you cannot find it there, a two-minute call to the clerk’s office will settle it. I was not able to find a program at all in Bridgeport, Easton or Weston, so if you own property in one of those, that call is worth making either way.

What the Alert Will Not Do

The alert is a notification, not a lock. It tells you after a document has been recorded, and nothing stops a recording, including the paid title services you hear advertised. Those monitor the same public records your town clerk already watches. What they mainly add is help resolving a fraudulent record if one ever appears, which is a real service and something that may or may not sound appealing to you. Either way, cleaning up a fraudulent filing is legal work, and it belongs with a real estate attorney rather than with me.

An alert does not protect your title. It shortens the distance between a filing and your knowledge of it, and that interval is the part that actually matters.

How I Would Set It Up

If a client asked me to walk through this with them, this is the order I would work in.

• Register every name that appears on your deed, including middle initials, a maiden name, and the name of any trust or LLC that holds the property.
• Sign up in every town where you own anything at all, vacant land included.
• Register your spouse or co-owner separately rather than assuming one registration covers both of you.
• Use an email address you actually read, not the one you reserve for everything else.
• Do it again after a marriage, a name change, or a transfer into a trust, because the new name is not covered by the old registration.

And if an alert arrives for something you do not recognize, call the town clerk first and ask for a copy of the recorded document. Then call your attorney. Do not assume it is a clerical error, and do not assume it is fraud.

Five minutes now buys you a warning you would otherwise never receive.

Protection Is Not a Product. It Is a Habit.

Most of what genuinely protects a homeowner is unglamorous. Knowing where your deed is. Keeping your survey. Staying current on your taxes. Noticing when something has been filed in your name. None of it is expensive, and almost all of it comes down to having been told it exists.

This one is free, and your town has already built it. The only thing standing between you and it is five minutes and knowing that it is there.

If you are thinking ahead to a sale, two places to start: what your home is actually worth and how to prepare it for market.

If you are considering buying or selling in Fairfield County, I am here to help. With over 15 years of experience and a deep understanding of the local market, I can provide the guidance and strategy you need to make your next move a confident one. Reach out anytime. I would love to connect.

— Shoshana Snyder, Homes by Shoshana