05/09/2026
PROPERTY FRAUD: This is Very Real and currently happening! As a Real Estate agent I get, some weeks, as many as four calls from "False Sellers" asking me to list their property (mostly, but not all, empty lots, some of them worth over $300,000.) They identify themselves as the owner with the name as recorded in the Property Appraiser's website; They provide a phone # and email address, that after my research, is discovered to be other than the real owner's. Or, if I can't find the real owner's phone #, I request Government issued photo ID, they produce it and it's false (which is a whole other investigative step). ; Most will insist that we close the sale using Their choice of title company, which I'm sure is complicit in the scam. After tracking down the REAL owner's contact number, they confirm, "No, it's not them who called or emailed me, and they don't want to sell!" (Recently, I couldn't find a foreign owner's phone #, so I found and emailed the owner at his son's Belgium Dentist office that matched the owner's mailing address in County records (Dick Tracy here ☺️) In every instance, I immediately recommend the owner sign up to Receive This Notice and suggest that they consider puttting a small mortgage, with a close, trusted family member or friend as the Lender - Because the title company has to call the Mortgage holder to get the accurate payoff. (This was recommended in a couple of recent news broadcasts reporting on people who'd had their property sold without their knowledge, or receiving the proceeds!) They're getting much more sophisticated with these scams, so Please Take This Seriously and Protect Your Property!
Stay alert of potential property fraud!
Flagler County Clerk & Comptroller offers a free service to alert property owners when a deed, mortgage, or other land record with their name on it has been recorded into the Flagler County official record.
Visit https://records.flaglerclerk.gov/FraudAlert to subscribe today!