Articles and examples of recent fraudulent transactions within BC

·         A recent fraudulent transaction in Big White where the fraudsters posed as the true owners of a condo and entered into a contract with the buyers. Thankfully, the fraud was caught before the sale of the property completed, but the stress and financial harm could have prevented. Big White Scam – Vancouver Sun,

·         Fraudsters impersonated the legitimate property owners and obtained a $500,000 mortgage, which they registered against the property. Real Estate Identity Frauds

·         In 2021, a fraudster posed as the seller and “sold” the property to himself, then to an innocent buyer. The homeowners had no knowledge of this sale and were compensated based on the fair market value of their home, but they had no recourse to get the property back. Fraudster Steals Title of BC Residential Property – Vancouver Sun

·         A mortgage-free BC property which the owner held for 20+ years was fraudulently transferred to a new owner. The fraudster then registered a mortgage of $400,000 against the property.

·         A vacant parcel of mortgage-free property was transferred to a new owner then encumbered with a large mortgage a few weeks later.

The above examples are to illustrate the importance of fraud prevention in BC. This issue is becoming more and more prevalent throughout the last couple of years. Although the innocent third party can receive monetary compensation for fraudulent transactions against their property, they still may lose their home and will deal with unnecessary stress throughout the proceedings.

Next weeks email will outline, in detail, steps you can take to prevent yourself from being victimized of mortgage and title fraud.