Talk Like a Pirate Day is tomorrow. Everybody will have a little fun with it.
But there’s a pirate story in our industry that isn’t fun at all.
Rob Chrisman opened his September 18 commentary with it. He said every loan originator should tell their borrowers about title pirates, especially given the FBI’s warning for people who own their homes without any debt. I agree. And I’d add Realtors to that list.
What’s actually happening
A title pirate forges a deed and records it with the county. Usually it’s a quitclaim deed. Once it’s on the record, the paperwork says the scammer owns the home. A quitclaim deed only passes along whatever claim the signer has, with no guarantees attached, and criminals exploit exactly that.
Then they sell the property, borrow against it, or rent it out. Often nobody catches on until the money has already been wired.
Why free and clear homes?
Pirates go where nobody is watching. Vacant land. Empty houses. A rental owned by someone in another state. And homes with no mortgage.
Think about what a lender does in a normal closing. There’s a lien to pay off. Someone is confirming who’s who. With no lender in the deal, that checkpoint disappears, and more of the sale proceeds are up for grabs.
So the homeowners who did everything right, the ones who paid it off, can be the most exposed. That’s the part that stays with me.
This one hits close to home
On July 23, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts announced charges against three people in an alleged scheme targeting vacant, debt-free properties. The states named were Massachusetts, Georgia, Indiana and Tennessee. Prosecutors say the group used fake IDs, email addresses, and internet-based phone numbers to pose as out-of-state owners. Then they tricked real estate professionals into selling the properties.
Read that last part again. Real estate professionals. That’s us. These are allegations, and I’ll leave the verdict to the courts. But the playbook is clear.
The deeper lesson
Fraud lives in the gaps between us.
The agent assumes title will catch it. Title assumes the ID is real. The loan officer assumes the agent did her homework. Everyone assumes the email came from the owner. A chain of assumptions is a scammer’s favorite thing.
And they make it easy. They avoid live contact, lean on email and text, and always have a reason, like travel or illness.
Technology changes. Scams change. People don’t. We like to be helpful. We like a smooth closing. We hate slowing a deal down. Scammers know it.
What to do Monday morning
- Verify the owner with contact info you found yourself. Use county tax records, not the email that came with the inquiry.
- Ask for a live video call or a face-to-face. A real owner can spare ten minutes. Reluctance is information.
- Watch for the stack. Vacant or non-owner-occupied, no mortgage, out-of-state owner, cash buyer, fast close. Any one of those is normal. Together they deserve a second look.
- Call your title company before you need to. Ask how they verify seller identity and how they handle remote notarization for out-of-state sellers.
- Give clients a five-minute assignment. The FBI suggests monitoring property records and setting up online search alerts. Call the county and ask what alerts they offer.
Keep an eye on the older folks in your circle too. The FBI notes that family members, often elderly, are sometimes targeted by relatives who convince them to sign over property.
How to bring it up
No scare tactics. Try this: “Since you own your home free and clear, I want to show you one free thing that takes five minutes.”
That’s it. You’re teaching, not selling.
Trust is still the greatest competitive advantage. The agent or loan officer who says, “Let me protect you from something you didn’t know to worry about,” is the one they call next time. It’s also just the right thing to do.
Here’s your challenge this week. Look up your own property record. Then pick one client who owns something free and clear and send them a short note. Five minutes each. Knowledge is power, but only when we pass it along.
Source: Chrisman Commentary, September 18, 2026. Background: FBI Boston, “Quit Claim Deed Fraud is on the Rise.”
FAQ
1. What is a title pirate?
Someone who uses forged or fraudulent deeds and other documents to transfer ownership of a property they don’t own.
2. What is quitclaim deed fraud?
A scammer poses as the owner and records a fake transfer. They then try to sell or mortgage the property.
3. Why are homes with no mortgage such big targets?
There’s no lender lien to clear at closing, so a natural checkpoint is missing. There’s also no payoff coming out of the proceeds.
4. How big is the problem?
The FBI received 58,141 reports of real estate-related victimization from 2019 to 2023, with more than $1.3 billion in reported losses. That figure covers real estate scams broadly, not just deed fraud.
5. Does this affect Tennessee?
Tennessee was one of four states named in the July federal case. Those are allegations, not convictions. Out-of-state owners of vacant land or second homes are the profile to double check.
6. Who else gets targeted?
Vacant land, unoccupied houses, rentals, and out-of-state investments. Elderly owners can also be targeted by relatives.
7. How would an owner find out?
Often they don’t until a sale is underway. Monitoring records and setting alerts is the best defense. In some cases, fraud detection at county recorder offices has flagged unauthorized transfers before a sale closed.
8. What role does remote notarization play?
Weak identity verification and misuse of remote notarization can help a false seller look legitimate. That’s why it’s worth asking your title company how they handle it.
9. Does title insurance cover this?
It depends on the policy, the timing, and the facts. A title professional is the right person to walk a client through what their policy covers.
10. What should an owner do if they think their title was stolen?
Contact the county recorder or register of deeds, a real estate attorney, their title company, and local law enforcement. Also file a report with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov.
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