• Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    • YouTube
    • Pinterest
          888-666-0844

Mountain Living Real EstateMountain Living Real Estate

Your Source for Summit County Real Estate

  • Search
    • All Listings
    • Our Listings
  • buy/sell/rent
    • Buyers
    • Sellers
    • Renters
    • Property Management
  • Communities
    • Breckenridge
    • Copper Mountain
    • Dillon
    • Frisco
    • Keystone
    • Silverthorne
    • Park County
  • Blog
  • About
    • Client Testimonials
    • Contact

Land Owners may be Targets for Fraud

Vacant Land may put land owners a target for fraud

Every time we turn around, there is another way someone has figured out to scam people. Because real estate often involves large amounts of money, it’s no surprise that there are consistently new ways someone is trying to steal that money. Recent scams include renting out properties they don’t own or sending alternate wiring instructions so money is wired into the fraudster’s account instead of the title company’s. Now land owners may be targets for fraud.

Land buyers beware

This latest scam is the fraudster posing as a land owner. They employ a real estate agent to sell their land. The problem is that they aren’t the legitimate land owner so don’t have the authority to sell the land. The fraudster cons the real estate agent and brings them unknowingly into their scam. In Colorado title companies facilitate real estate sales. There are documents that need a notary and IDs to review in order to close a sale. The only way I see the fraudster getting away with any money is if they have a fake ID made in the real owner’s name or if they found someone’s ID and are able to exploit it. No matter how they manage to pull off the fraud, it results in a legitimate buyer paying the fraudster for a property and thinking they own it. The buyer’s name goes to the county as the new owner and they could be moving forward building a home on the piece of land before the real owner targeted for fraud even knows anything has happened.

Impacts to land owners

This sale obviously creates issues for the real land owner. If the targeted land owner rarely sees the land, there may be a house on the site the next time they see it. A house built by someone that thinks they own the land but unless it is disputed, no one knows otherwise. This creates a sticky situation for both the land owner and land buyer. Who owns what? I would think that the original land owner would end up getting ownership of the land back. After all, they never sold it. Although, that might be difficult to prove. The land buyer would be out the money they paid for the property plus any improvements to the property. Maybe the land owner would buy the improvements from the defrauded buyer. Maybe not. Meanwhile, the fraudster is off counting their money and defrauding someone else.

How to avoid the fraudsters

If only this was an easy answer. Real estate agents and title companies need to be sure and do their due diligence. An agent should take reasonable measures to ensure the people they are dealing with actually own the property to be sold. Title companies should be diligent checking IDs and in their conversations with the sellers. Buyers should never send money to someone directly. Even a for sale by owner sale should involve a title company or attorney. If there is ever a red flag that comes up during a transaction, it should be followed up on. Don’t hesitate to express any concerns with the real estate agent involved in the sale. Land owners should visit their land periodically. Occasionally look at the ownership records the county has online to ensure their name is still on record. If a fraudulent situation is occuring, contact Colorado Bureau of Investigation by emailing reportwirefraud@state.co.us or visit their fraud website for more information. We all need to be diligent to help protect those land buyers and land owners that may be targets for fraud.

Posted in: Homeowner Information Tagged: Buyers, Land

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Post navigation

« Summit County Short Term Rental Regulations – 2023
Encouraging Residential Sales in Summit County »

About Us

Mountain Living Real Estate, a.k.a. The Mountain Living Team, is a family owned, second generation, real estate company that has been helping buyers and sellers in Summit County since the early 90’s.  Mountain Living Real Estate is committed to going above and beyond to ensure their clients have the most amazing real estate experience possible.  Jason & Meredith take a personal approach to educate their clients, empowering them to make high quality decisions no matter the situation.  They take exceptional care throughout the sales process and beyond; striving to make each client’s path in Summit County one filled with fun, excitement & great memories.

Work with Mountain Living Real Estate and you’ll understand why so many people say, “We Love Mountain Living!”

Testimonials

The Mountain Living team made the process very easy with clear, concise communication and helpful insights from start to finish.

Matt from TX August 9, 2023

Read More Testimonials

You both are the best! It really helped me when you fixed the blind and got the furniture out. Also, putting up with my anxiety.

Erica from Frisco June 27, 2023

Read More Testimonials

Contact Us


Jason and Meredith Adams

Jason & Meredith Adams
Mountain Living Real Estate

101 Main St, #109, PO Box 4115 Frisco, CO 80443

(888) 666-0844
team@mountain-living.com

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Pinterest

Jason & Meredith Adams are both licensed to sell real estate in the state of Colorado

© 2023 · Equity Framework
© 2023 · Mountain Living Real Estate, Inc.
 

Privacy Policy · Sitemap
Listings Sitemap · Log In