Victim Location 55446
Type of a scam Other
This apparently isn’t a new issue, but it was one of several suspicious letters I received on the same day. I bought a house just over a month ago, and this is one of several pieces of mail I received that claimed I urgently needed to open it. It claimed that they could provide "a copy of the only document that identifies [me] as the property owner(s) of [my new home’s address", if I sent them a check for "an $89 processing fee". This is despite the fact that I received a deed among my closing documents and I shouldn’t need another deed, let alone that this "Local Records Office" has the "only document". They gave me a deadline which happened to be almost exactly a month after I received the letter.
They included quite a bit of apparently public information about my sale, though notably the purchase date was off by weeks, one of the first things to make me suspicious. The letter does include three disclaimers that this company is "not associated with any governmental agency" (not always those exact words but similar). One of these disclaimers was in the upper right part of the letter, near the mailing and return addresses, one was at the end of the letter, and finally once on the back at the end of a list of defined terms. Even with these disclaimers, I still want to report this as a scam for two reasons. One, the letter – from the envelope reading "IMPORTANT PROPERTY INFORMATION RESPOND PROMPTLY" to the opening line claiming that they had the "only document" that could identify me as the owner of my property – does several things to give a false sense of urgency for a service that is in no way necessary or even urgent. I also don’t think that the disclaimers are "playing fair" – they’re not addressed in the body of the letter at all, only in places that frankly I didn’t even notice until I started looking more closely.
Secondly, I’ve done some research and seen that others who did pay for this "service" did not actually receive what they were promised. Also, $89 is considerably more than should be required for something like this, so there’s no valid reason for their "processing fee" to be so high.
Victim Location 80202
Type of a scam Other
I am an elder law and estate planning attorney. My clients consistently get a letter from this company trying to scam them to pay $89.00 for a copy of their deed. A deed at the coulty only costs $.50. Homeowners get the original, recorded deed for the title company and from the county after closing.. I provided a free recorded deed as part of my services. I work a lot with elderly people and they seem to be a major target of this company. What this company does is cruel, heartless and a scam. Who ever works from this company should be ashamed.
Victim Location 92029
Type of a scam Other
Deeds are available at the County assessors office. They say that you must respond by 7/1/16 making it seem like you need to pay the money ($89.00) to get your deed. Confusing for those who may not know better or the ederly.