Scam – Deed Processing Notice Solicitation – Hold on to Your Wallet

This solicitation to recent property buyers looks like a bill from a governmental agency. In very small print, they say otherwise. You do not have to send them $83 dollars for a copy of your deed.

Palm Coast, FL – January 2, 2014 – If you receive a mailing from Property Transfer Services, throw it away. It's a scam that ranks up there with the yellow page ad solicitation that looks like an invoice. In an official looking mailing, Property Transfer Services offers a "copy of their current Grant Deed." It also states, "A Property Profile provides a wealth of information useful to understanding a subject property's makeup. This report includes the property address, owner's name, comparable values, and legal description or parcel identification number.""

The face of the envelope states:

"OPEN IMMEDIATELY – IMPORTANT INFORMATION ENCLOSED"

"WARNING: $2,000 FINE, 5 YEARS IMPRISONMENT, OR BOTH FOR ANY PERSON INTERFERING OR OBSTRUCTING WITH DELIVERY OF THIS LETTER U.S. MAIL TTT.18.CODE"

"*NOT A GOVERNMENT AGENCY"

This is a repeat of a scam GoToby.com warned of three years ago. In fact, the text above is copied directly from that article with only one change, the company name. Where the original article referenced the company as “State Record Retrieval Board,” I have substituted the name on the current solicitation, “Property Transfer Services.”

If you read carefully until the end of the second page of fine print, it says truthfully, “Certified copies of property deeds are available at the county clerk’s office. The county clerk’s office may charge a small fee for certified copies of such deeds, usually between two and four dollars a page.”

That is why you should not send them $83. More importantly, you probably do not ever have to have a copy of your registered deed. That deed is a public record and is maintained by the Clerk of Court.

Scam n: a fraudulent or deceptive act or operation

As a non-attorney, I suspect the solicitation is legal, but I would classify it as a scam because it is deceptive.

I was once told, "You can fool some of the people all of the time and that's enough to make a decent living."