Google “deed theft scams in Florida” and you will find that the real estate market is not only hot for those looking to buy or sell.

It’s a market ripe for property thieves who use forged documents and identity theft to transfer title and then sell or mortage homes or lots they do not own.

While such transfers are obviously not legal, they cause both legal and financial problems for the true property owner as once such a deed is recorded, “it appears valid, and others may purchase the property from the fraudster or the third party named as guarantee in the deed in the belief that such person owns and has the right to sell the property,” according to an analysis of recently approved legislation designed to address the problem starting with a pilot program to launch here in Lee County.

Thanks to the efforts of Lee County Clerk of the Courts Kevin Karnes, who realized how easy it was for sophisticated scammers to steal properties because existing state law tied the hands of such officials when it came to recording deeds, it’s going to become a whole lot less easy.

The “Title Fraud Prevention Through Identity Verification Pilot Program” will be tested here in Lee County for two years after which Mr. Karnes will make a recommendation to legislators whether the program that allows clerks to require specific identification should be expanded statewide.

The pilot program, among the provisions of HB 1419, was passed unanimously by both the State House and Senate and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis last Wednesday

Mr. Karnes said this week that the law gives the Lee County Clerk’s Office the ability to require government-issued IDs from anyone who records a deed before that deed is processed.

“We can turn over that information to law enforcement and do a better investigation,” he said in an interview with The Breeze. “It gives law enforcement a starting point.”

A government-issued ID will provide a photograph of all parties on the deed with an address and name, which Mr. Karnes said will allow law enforcement to better follow the path back to those who fraudulently transfer ownership of properties.

Previously, the Clerk’s Office was required to accept and record a document if it met statutory requirements, which did not include any sort of identification.

The required presentation of a government-issued ID, complete with photo, is a good starting point, and we thank Mr. Karnes and members of the Lee County Legislative Delegation for being among those committed to mitigating the problem.

Meanwhile, property owners here and statewide have another protection in place — they can sign up for a free notification service that will alert them whenever an instrument purporting to convey title, such as a deed, is recorded in the county’s official records

While the service does not prevent the recording of the deed, it lets the property owner know they may need to contact an attorney or law enforcement to report the fraud as well as take other steps to undo the fraudulent conveyance, including filing for a court-ordered “quiet title.”

We urge anyone who owns property to take that protective step. Visit leeclerk.org/fraudalert.

– Breeze editorial