In McHenry County, there are tens of thousands of property owners, yet just about 12,000 are signed up for the free Property Fraud Alert program, County Clerk and Recorder Joe Tirio said.
The alert program, which has been available to residents since before Tirio took office in 2016, ensures that a property owner is alerted whenever a deed is filed in their name. So, if someone is committing forgery or clandestinely trying to sell or buy someone else’s home, the rightful owner will be immediately notified via email, Tirio said.
And now, with new state legislation requiring county recorders to implement the fraud alert system to stop title transfer scams, McHenry County’s gone a step further.
After a property owner is alerted that someone has essentially stolen their property or forged their signature on documents, the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office, the Sheriff’s Office, even the FBI if needed, will begin an investigation, Tirio said.
Prior to this, a property owner who has fallen victim would walk out of the clerk’s office and have to figure out what to do next on their own.
The FBI documented more than 58,000 victims and roughly $1.3 billion in real estate fraud losses across the country between 2019 and 2023, according to Tirio.
“Property fraud can strip families of their most valuable asset and leave them in years of costly legal battles,” he said. “These two programs give McHenry County residents real tools to protect themselves and a direct line to authorities when something is wrong.”
Fortunately, Paul Madsen, vice president of operations at Heritage Title Company in Crystal Lake, said in his 35 years in the business, he has not seen this happen in McHenry County. He said this is because attorneys are typically involved in real estate transactions in McHenry County, which is not necessarily the same in other counties.
But officials say deed fraud is a serious and escalating problem across the country.
Tirio said fraudsters target vacant land, homes that are paid off and homes occupied by someone besides the owner or whose owners live out of state, which allegedly happened in Kankakee County.
Earlier this year, a woman was accused of fraudulently buying a home whose owners lived out of state, according to Shaw Local reporting and Kankakee County court records. The owners were not registered for the fraud alert program, but have since signed up, officials said.
The defendant, Heather Gaskey, is charged with two counts of forgery, a Class 2 felony, and theft by deception from a person 60 or over on the sale of property valued at $5,000 or more, a Class 3 felony, according to an indictment in Kankakee County court.
Investigators found that multiple quit-claim deeds were submitted containing altered language and forged signatures, which significantly changed the ownership structure of a property, Kankakee police said.
Tirio said if a bad actor successfully obtains someone else’s property, they can turn around and sell it or take out loans, lines of credit and mortgages against it.
And, if the property is not registered with the fraud alert system, the real owners won’t know what happened until they get a notice from their bank that they owe an exorbitant amount of money or their home is foreclosed on.
Tirio also said the free protection the county provides is the same service companies such as Home Title Lock charge monthly fees for.
To enroll in the free alert program visit propertyfraudalert.com or call 800-728-3858. For information, contact the recorder’s office at 815-334-4110.