Guest Commentary | Protect your property and sign up for the Lee Clerk’s free Property Fraud Alert service
Protecting your property is one of my top priorities. And I hope it is one of yours too.
It’s a sad reality, but unfortunately thieves are stealing properties – and it’s even happening in our community. Property fraud occurs when someone uses a forged deed to sell or transfer property that does not belong to them. Under current Florida law, our office must accept a deed if it meets the statutory requirements – even if we suspect it may be fraudulent. That is why I am doing everything I can to help you protect your property.
Criminals shouldn’t be able to steal your home.
Earlier this year, a Fort Myers man was arrested for attempting to steal a property by filing a fake deed in the Lee Clerk’s Official Records Department. Shortly after that, a woman was convicted in a 2023 case involving her trying to file multiple false deeds at the Clerk’s office to steal properties from the homeowners. Just last month, a Marion County woman was sentenced to five years in state prison for filing a false document to try and steal a home.
These recent incidents and others across the state show the importance of the Lee Clerk’s Property Fraud Alert.
I really encourage you to take a few minutes and register for our Property Fraud Alert, if you haven’t already. It is a free service that helps protect your home, land or business from property fraud by letting you know within 24 hours if someone has filed a deed under your name. That quick notification allows you to act fast, so you can immediately alert law enforcement.
Signing up for Property Fraud Alert is extremely easy. It takes less than two minutes and can even be done on your phone. You just need to enter your name and email address. That’s it. If you would like to include your property’s parcel number for additional alerts, you can do that too. To sign up, please visit leeclerk.org/fraudalert. You can register personal names, business names, trusts, and individual parcels to receive alert notifications. Even if your personal or commercial property is held in a trust, it can still be registered for Property Fraud Alerts. Just follow the step-by-step instructions on the website.
While there are companies out there that charge for this service, it is important for you to know that our office offers it for free. I highly discourage you from paying for this kind of service from a company you may see advertised on TV or online. These are for-profit entities that sometimes make guarantees they cannot fulfill.
The Lee Clerk’s office launched the Property Fraud Alert service in 2019, and more than 70,000 Lee County property owners have registered. There are approximately 550,000 parcels of land in Lee County, and my goal is for every Lee County property owner to be registered.
You can learn more about this ongoing problem and how our office is working to prevent it at leeclerk.org/fraudalert.
Kevin Karnes is the Lee County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller.
To reach KEVIN KARNES, please email news@breezenewspapers.com