Holding Court is a series by retired Rye City Court Judge Joe Latwin. Latwin retired from the court in December 2022 after thirteen years of service to the City.
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By Joe Latwin
Television commercials blare out warnings of nefarious schemes to steal our real estate and take out mortgages on the property leaving the owner deeply in debt. It happens. But you can protect yourself.
In Westchester, real estate titles must be recorded in the County Clerk’s Office. After a transfer, the deed transferring the property must be recorded, together with some other documents. You can check the status of your title by going to County Clerk’s website and doing a free search. Go to Westchester Records Online – Login and click on Land Records or to Westchester Records Online: Land Records. Fill in your last and first name, and the City where the property is, then click on search. The results should show your name and the date your deed was filed, any mortgages, and any deeds from you to another. If you find a deed where you are the first party that means either you gave a deed or someone filed a false deed.
Obviously, this is a public site that you can access for free as often as you wish to check the status of your title.
What can you do to undo a fraudulent deed or mortgage? Unfortunately, you must either go to court or get cooperation of the bad guys. It will be painful and costly. Every deed must be sworn to before a notary. The notary must be identified on the deed. If you did not sign the deed before that notary, that notary may be liable. Most buyers and all banks get title insurance before completing a transaction. The title insurance companies all require photo identification of the seller or mortgagor before insuring the title or mortgage. The title company and file number are usually set forth on the recorded document. That information will allow you to follow the course of the deal and track down the bad guys.
Some of these advertisers offer insurance against title theft.
One way of insulating your title from theft is to hold ownership of your real estate in an entity, such as a corporation or an LLC, or holding the property in a trust. To affect title, proof of the authority of the entity’s actor will be required by a title insurance company and it is unlikely that the thief will have access to the entity’s documentation or know who the individuals authorized to transfer the property is.
