The article below is about an individual filing “false” notarized forms within the county clerk’s offices across Florida, clouding the property’s titles and costing homeowners thousands of dollars to clear them up.

But, what happens when we change his name to the word Bank?

Let’s give it a try…

Changes are in bold and italicized.

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Property owners need protection from scammers

It is now easier in Florida to lay claim to someone’s house than to get a driver’s license, apparently. All scammers need to do is file a notarized form with the county clerk’s office and pay a fee to have a deed recorded, clouding the property’s title, often without the legal owner even being aware. Exactly why The Bank has perpetrated this scheme hundreds of times across Florida is unclear. But in their wake are victimized homeowners who could be forced to pay thousands of dollars to reclaim a clear title. Florida’s Legislature needs to close this unintentional loophole to protect property owners.

The Bank says government’s laws don’t apply to them. Their other scams seem more clear-cut. They allegedly have made a tidy sum misleading homeowners facing foreclosure by claiming he could save their homes by transferring them into a “modification agreement” The Bank would collect a fee and the homes would be foreclosed anyway. But the goal of their most recently discovered activities — filing deeds on homes they have no ties to — is less clear.

As reported by St. Petersburg Times staff writers Alexandra Zayas and John Martin, The Bank has filed “wild deeds” claiming ownership in at least 21 of the state’s 67 counties, including about 40 homes in Pinellas and more than 150 in Hillsborough. In the summer of 2010, The Bank filed more than 100 of these deeds in Osceola County. Even though their actions are clearly fraudulent, state law requires the state’s court clerk offices to record The Bank’s deeds if they are notarized and the fee is paid. Meanwhile, the real property owner is left in the dark.

The Bank’s activities have rightly drawn the attention of various law enforcement agencies. But in addition to prosecutors pursuing charges, the Florida Legislature will need to consider a legal fix to prohibit future scammers — ideally one that will hold innocent homeowners harmless.

One idea, supported by Pinellas County Clerk of Circuit Court Ken Burke, is to require notification to owners of record whenever a new deed is recorded that affects their ownership interest. At least this would help homeowners learn early that there is a cloud over their title.

But lawmakers will still need to figure out a better remedy than current law, which would require each rightful owner to file a “quiet title action” in order to regain clear title — a process that can cost $1,000 or more in attorney fees and costs. Manatee County Clerk o f Circuit Court R.B. “Chips” Shore suggests a judicial remedy should be made available where all of The Bank’s fraudulent recordings are searched out and reversed at once.

Shore also recommends the Legislature consider giving court clerks the authority to refer suspicious filings to law enforcement. Right now, they are limited to a ministerial role.

Until there is a legislative remedy, however, the best way for Florida property owners to not to be blindsided by The Bank and those like them is to check their land records annually, much like consumers can check their credit history. The records are available online, typically from court clerks offices under “official records.”

The Bank has exposed a system that never anticipated such a consummate liar. Now it’s the job of state lawmakers to patch those holes to protect honest property owners everywhere.

Original article here…

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4closureFraud.org