Contra Costa County Officials Tighten Grip On Real Estate Fraud
MARTINEZ (KCBS) – Contra Costa County is developing a program that would quickly alert homeowners to potential real estate fraud by proactively notifying them of any transactions involving their property.
The Real Estate Fraud Notification program would electronically scan documents such as loan applications and generate letters to the owner of the property involved in the transaction.
"We think that is a preventative system by saying if you're going to start to try to defraud people of their property, they're going to know about it in 2 to 3 days, not 2 to 3 months or a couple of years," said Contra Costa County Clerk-Recorder Steve Weir.
KCBS' Dave Padilla Reports:
Weir said that system would make it very difficult for transactions such as fraudulently deeding a vacant or abandoned property to a new owner without the original owner's knowledge, a scheme he acknowledged has been very rare in Contra Costa.
Weir said the program must win approval from the county Board of Supervisors and then undergo a test-run to work out any kinks in the system.
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