Scammers are selling real estate that doesn't belong to them. They vanish with the money, leaving buyers with nothing. It almost happened to Sasha Henderson of Parker. She and her husband were looking for some land to build a home.
“We found this beautiful piece of land in Elbert County, and it was gorgeous, absolutely stunning. It was 10 acres on a hill and it was overlooking this beautiful valley with views of the mountains in the back,” Henderson said. “We got so excited. We put in the offer the same day that we saw the listing.”
Their bid was accepted, but 10 days before closing, they got bad news. The property's real owner had no idea it was on the market. The sale was a scam.
“Oh, we were devastated,” she said. “We were just in shock. We were like, ‘Who are these people? What's going on? What if we closed on it? What if we put a house on it?’”
This is one of many frauds targeting what is often people’s biggest financial asset: their real estate.
Broker Rhonda Basey co-hosts seminars with the Douglas County Sheriff's Office to educate older Coloradans on how to avoid falling prey to such scams. She spoke with Colorado Matters host Chandra Thomas Whitfield.
Editor’s note: This interview transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
Chandra Thomas Whitfield: You were the broker for the Hendersons, and fortunately you found out before closing, so they did not lose any money. Was there any way for you to know that the seller was a fraud from a distance?
Rhonda Basey: No. It really does take the involvement of the professionals in the real estate industry to do that deeper digging. The title company, they had just an inkling with a suspicious email that came from the “seller.” It had capitalization where it shouldn't, punctuation a little out of place, and so what they ended up doing was overnighting a package directly to the owner-of-record, who lived out of state. And immediately the owner said, “Oh, no, I'm not listing my property for sale. I'm not under contract.” The owner was not interested after all in selling - I tried my best. I was like, “Are you sure you can't let it go?” So we ended up just moving on.
Thomas Whitfield: How does a criminal set up this scam?
Basey: It's not difficult, unfortunately, to find out a lot of information about people and property online. You can search for properties that are free and clear, do not have any loans on them, and - the real flag for fraudsters - is if they live out of state. So if you see a parcel of property, for instance, this one was in Elbert County, but the owner of record was in this case an address in the state of Illinois, and it's raw land: the fraudster knows that people aren't driving by their vacant land frequently to see, oh, there's a for sale sign in the yard.
Thomas Whitfield: Pretty bold. And some of this is related to post-COVID living. During that period of shutdown, we were selling things remotely.
Basey: Absolutely. We became a society of remote closings. We got used to doing things over the phone, through emails. It's been a very long time since I've sat at a closing with a seller and a buyer together at the same table.
Thomas Whitfield: I purchased a home during that period. So I do remember a lot of adjustments and a lot of virtual meetings in lieu of meeting in person. Now, it was the title insurance company that discovered this fraud. Is one lesson here to always get title insurance?
Basey: Absolutely. Even if you're a cash buyer and you don't have a lender requiring it, you should always get a title policy on any home or land you purchase.
Thomas Whitfield: There are companies advertising on TV that they'll protect you from title scams. Is that legit?
Basey: It is deceptive. They are selling a service, but they want a monthly fee or a yearly fee to cover your property and let you know if someone has stolen your house out from underneath you. The reality is the company is not keeping any kind of eye on suspicious activity that's happening. You won't know - even if you have purchased the special insurance - until after it is recorded at the county level. And most counties within the metro Denver area already have fraud alert systems in place, for free. You just get online, put in your name and your email address, and much like the code-red reverse phone calls, if something happens, you will get a notification in email format. And at that point, you need to call my title company because something nefarious has happened.
And when you purchase title insurance, that runs with your ownership of the property until you sell it. So for seniors in particular, it might've been a very long time since they have purchased their property and don't know whether they have title insurance or not. My suggestion is if you keep good records, go back and look to see who your title company was. If you don't have good records, it's not that difficult to find. Contact a real estate professional who can help you, or contact your county records office, and they can pull up everything that has been attached to your property, including warranty deeds and what title company closed that property. And then you can contact that title company and just make sure.
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Thomas Whitfield: Clearly anyone could be a victim of this type of fraud. For example, the Hendersons are in their 30s. But in your mind, what makes older people more susceptible to real estate fraud?
Basey: I think the largest factor is trust. They don't expect the worst to happen. Many people who have been in their homes for 30, 40, 50 years, they aren't prepared. They are just living life like they've done for decades. And those fraudsters will once again use the obituaries to find estates that might either need to be sold or might be vacant for a while. The senior, maybe if it's a surviving spouse that's in the property alone, that might encourage fraudsters to call and want to purchase the property but convince them that it's worth less than it really would be on the open market. That's a dangerous road to go down, and trust allows them to be manipulated.
Thomas Whitfield: That's good to know. There are occasions where, for different reasons - whether it's moving in with family, whether it's for health reasons - someone may have to leave their home empty for a period of time. What are the concerns there?
Basey: My advice for the family is make it look as lived-in as possible.
Thomas Whitfield: So like, timers, and making sure everything's maintained, no things collecting like mail.
Basey: Right. Nothing says “I'm empty” like a full mailbox at the end of the driveway, or the newspapers collecting on the driveway. And in most counties, law enforcement officers will even go by and do visits, to just have a presence around that property so that if anyone is eyeing it to either vandalize, come steal the appliances out of it.
Thomas Whitfield: Or squatting!
Basey: Yes, and that's the worst-case scenario because the laws are not homeowner-friendly when it comes to squatters. It's very difficult to get them out of the house. So for the family members, or if it's a senior, who knows they're going to be gone - some Colorado residents are snowbirds and leave for six months, so they do plan to come back - make your property look as lived in as possible.
Thomas Whitfield: And you also suggest security cameras that you can access remotely.
Basey: Yes. Something as simple as a Ring doorbell at least can catch people at the front door, looking in the front window, something like that.
Thomas Whitfield: A growing number of older homeowners still have a mortgage. And that monthly payment can be difficult when you're also dealing with inflation, rising property taxes, not to mention an unexpected medical bill or the death of a spouse. How are older people targeted there?
Basey: These are mortgage relief scams, and these people call up and act like they are from a government institution or an investor organization. And they frequently tempt the seniors with some amount of money to begin with, and then the senior is so relieved and happy about that, that they can be manipulated and convinced to do other things that they really should not be doing. “I'll take over your loan.” Or, “Give us your bank account, your mortgage account number, and we will make your payments for you.” Those should be sending up red flags to anyone that receives that type of message.
Thomas Whitfield: I remember a lot of talk for a while about the reverse mortgage scams where they were targeting seniors saying, “Oh, we can save you so much money,” but they don't give the whole story.
Basey: Reverse mortgages are - I wouldn't call them scams. And we are now no longer in the day and age, like we were in the ‘80s, when the reverse amortization could outweigh the actual market value of the house. They are tailored now. They have a place. But you need to understand all of the rules and know exactly what you're getting into, to utilize that equity that is in your house. And let's face it, over the last, even just handful of years, many people have a lot of equity in their houses. And if a senior wants to age in place and not move out to an assisted living or independent living community, then they might want to dig into the equity. And there is a place for it.
They're expensive. That is probably the biggest drawback to a reverse mortgage. So I would not call them scams, but you definitely need to talk to a lender who knows them very, very well and can explain them well and set up your expectations appropriately.
Thomas Whitfield: What do you do if you can't pay your mortgage?
Basey: There are lots of organizations, many at the county level, and some at the Colorado level, and they're very easily found online - assistance programs for seniors, assistance programs for people who have experienced hardship. I'd say the very, very first person to call would be the customer service rep at your mortgage company. They are more flexible than you might think. They don't want to take the property back. They really don't want to be burdened with foreclosing on you and then trying to sell the house.
So if a senior is experiencing troubles or anyone that has a hardship going on and is unable to make payments, the very first person you should call is that customer service rep. And you may have to be on hold for a while or push a couple buttons to get to a person. But it is worth it because many times they will work with the homeowner.
Thomas Whitfield: Rhonda, very insightful. Thank you.
Basey: Thank you. I appreciate the opportunity to share some information and educate people.
This story is a part of Aging Matters, a series from Colorado Matters about the Centennial State's aging population. Read more stories here.
