Home selling frauds

More than 30 homes in Greater Toronto Area were sold or mortgaged without homeowner’s knowledge.  This is very unnerving considering many Canadians are house rich and cash poor. Majority of their wealth are locked inside their houses. 3 people were charged for selling homes they don’t own in Toronto.

Organized crime groups hired criminals to use stolen ID to pretend to be renters to gain access to the property. They also forged document and pretend to be homeowners to sell it or re-mortgage it.

Seniors or people who rent our their properties are at higher risk of those frauds.

Here are few tips to protect us from identity thefts by the Canadian Anti-Fraud.

• Be wary of who you share personal information with.
• Regularly check credit card reports, bank and credit card statements and report anything irregular.
• Shred documents containing personal information before placing them in the garbage.
• Limit mail theft by regularly retrieving mail.
• Notify the post office, financial institutions, and other service providers of your new address when you move.

Need to buy title insurance which can protects either the buyers or the homeowners. Some title insurance protects the lender/financial institutions who provide the mortgage while other title insurance protects the homeowners.  Here is how to find out what you have.

See more information for what else we can do to protect us from such frauds.