Title and Mortgage Fraud

For our last email related to title/mortgage fraud, I thought we should explain what we can offer, and what you can specifically do to prevent your property from being victim of title fraud.

There is only one option to prevent mortgage fraud if you are mortgage/lien free, and that is to pull the Duplicate Indefeasible Title (DIT). This will effectively “freeze” the title,  ensuring no party, including the homeowner, can register a charge or transfer the title while the DIT is out, making it the only effective fraud prevention tool.

Title insurance insures against the risk of fraud (i.e. provide a payout if you are the victim of fraud) but does nothing to reduce or eliminate the risk of title fraud. Much like fire insurance does not prevent a fire, title insurance does not prevent fraud.

The following is the cost for each option:

  1. Duplicate Indefeasible title (pull it yourself)
  • It’s $85 to do so yourself, we can provide you with instructions upon request.
  1. Duplicate Indefeasible title (using Spagnuolo LLP)
  • Legal Fees for ordering DIT from LTSA: $399.00 + taxes and disbursements (one-time setup fee)
  • Storage Option:
    • We can store the original DIT in our firm’s safe for $10/month; or
    • Have it delivered directly to you for safekeeping.
  1. Title Insurance
  • We order policies through Stewart Title Guaranty Company. The cost of this depends on the fair market value (FMV) of your property and increases with your property value.  A good starting point is roughly $185 for properties with a FMV up to $1,000,000.  If you don’t have title insurance and want to receive a quote for your property, please let me know.

 

I’ve also included a link to our Knowledge Center:

Mortgage Fraud Protection – Spagnuolo LLP – BC Real Estate Lawyers

which includes answers to frequently asked questions we’ve received from past emails, but please let me know if you have any other questions or if you need assistance with either option.

Do not be a victim of real estate fraud. For $85 you can pull the DIT yourself and ensure your property is safe from title/mortgage fraud. For a few hundred dollars more you can have a trusted lawyer pull the DIT for you, and take the risk if the document is lost. With fraud being more prevalent throughout the last few years, if you own your property mortgage and lien free, you should arrange to pull the DIT soon.

 

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