Montgomery County, TN – Homeowners in Montgomery County have been contacting the County Register of Deeds Office about letters they have received from a “Clerk’s Property Office” with a Nashville, Tennessee address.
The letter requests that consumers send a check or money order to a Clerk’s Office in St. Petersburg, Florida. The purpose of these letters is to make money, ($89 on average), for info that is free or less than $1 at your local Register of Deeds Office.
While the letter may or may not contain accurate information regarding an individual’s property and contains a disclosure reading it is not endorsed, affiliated, or approved by a government agency and is not from a government agency and a copy of your deed may be obtained from your local county office for free or a lesser charge, it is important to note the correspondence is not from the Montgomery County Register of Deeds’ Office.
“Our Office has a FREE Fraud Alert service at www.mylandalert.com, to assist with the early detection of property and mortgage fraud. We encourage our residents to sign up for this service especially since fraud comes in many forms. For example, identification impersonation can happen when someone steals your identity and uses it to transfer the property title to themselves or the impersonation is used to borrow money against a property. We want you to be protected. Signing up for the service is one way to help protect yourself and your property,” said Register of Deeds Julie Chadwick Runyon.
The Property Fraud Alert notification service alerts subscribers via email or text each time a document is recorded with their name on it. While this program cannot prevent fraud, it allows property owners an opportunity to take the appropriate actions early should they determine they have been the victim of possible fraudulent activity.
“It is important to know that if a document meets the state’s recording requirements, my office is legally mandated to record it. That is why I am making every effort to educate Montgomery County residents about the potential threats and encourage Montgomery County residents to sign up for the free Fraud Alert service. While I cannot prevent fraud, I can work to help protect our people by deterring it,” added Runyon.
Please get in touch with the Register of Deeds Office at 931.648.5713 or regdeeds@mcgtn.net for questions or a copy of your deed for anyone who can provide an address or the recording reference. The Register of Deeds team is here to assist the residents of Montgomery County.
