September 23, 2025 • 26 mins
Fraudulent deed transfers are on the rise. In this week’s podcast, I’ll explain why owning your home free and clear can actually make you a target, and how a simple tool — a Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) — can help protect your title.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:31):
Well, good afternoon, Michiganders, and welcome back to Tuesday with
Tom Michigan's Only podcast where we talk about estate planning,
a state settlement, and everything in between. As always, I'm
your host, Tom Doyle, the state planning attorney, lifelong Michigander
and your guide to planning for your future. Brief recap
(00:58):
of last episode, Goodbye to Paper Checks. I talked about
the new federal e payments mandate that is going to
likely affect all of you that are listening to this
program because it means the federal government is no longer
going to be issuing paper checks, and the federal government
(01:22):
is no longer going to be accepting your paper check
for deposit. So you have your income tax return prepared,
you owe taxes, you normally write a check and you
send it off, or you're making your quarterly payments, you
write a check and you send it off. None of
that is going to be available for you any longer.
(01:44):
What you're going to have to do is have things
done electronically. Or you're looking for a tax refund. You
might have waited for that check to come in the
mail so that you could cash it. That check is
not coming in the mail. It's going to have to
be electronically transferred to you by the federal government. So
(02:05):
all of you need to be aware of this important
change that takes effect on October first, which is only
about seven days from now. So I encourage all of
you listen to last week's episode today's show though, protecting
(02:26):
your home from fraudulent deed transfers with a heelock. But
remember what I'm about to discuss is meant to be
for educational purposes only. It is not intended to be
legal advice. As always, you need to work with your attorney,
your tax advisor, your financial advisor to determine what makes
(02:51):
the most sense for you and your planning. Protecting your
home from fraudulent deed transfers with a helock. Well, let's
just start out with what is happening and why deed
(03:15):
fraud is a growing problem in the age of online
real estate records. Today, in most counties in the state
of Michigan, real estate records are available either for free
or for a very small price for downloading through an
(03:36):
internet connection. So anybody can go to a Register of
Deed's office where your home is located. Most likely we'll
be able to download a copy of that deed. Now,
there can be very good reasons why people might need
to download a copy of your deed. You might need
(03:56):
a copy, we might.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Need a copy in preparing your estate.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
But here is the fraud problem that is brought about
because of online real estate records. Anybody can go download
a copy of the deed. Anybody can then prepare a
deed transferring that property from you to somebody else. Anybody
(04:24):
could sign or have that deed sign and with the
cooperation of a notary who might not actually even be
a legitimate notary but is willing to sign on as
a notary, you will have had a deed or they
will have had a deed prepared transferring your property from
(04:47):
you to somebody else. So that is what a fraudulent
deed transfer is, downloading a deed, preparing a new fake deed,
having it executed and notarized and recorded in Many of
you right there are going to be saying to yourself, says,
(05:09):
wait a minute, the deed has to be recorded. Doesn't
the Register of Deeds office make sure that I actually
executed the deed before they record it? Short answer, No,
all the Registered Deed's office is doing is making sure
(05:30):
that the deed on its face meets the statutory requirements
for recording a deed. That is, it's got appropriate margins,
it's executed, it's got a notary, it's legible, it has
a legal description, et cetera, et cetera. So the registered
deed's office simply records the deed. They don't call you
(05:55):
up and say, hey, Bob, did you sign this deed
that is now being recorded.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
They don't do any of that.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
So, now, what's the consequence to you when this fraudulent
deed is prepared?
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Well?
Speaker 1 (06:11):
One that deed now creates a title, creates a cloud
on your title to your property because anybody who would
then go to their registered deed's office and look to
see who owns it, which is normally what happens when
somebody is going to buy property. It's going to show
(06:33):
somebody else owns it. If you tried selling the property,
you would discover that, in fact, it had been transferred
to somebody else without your knowledge, which obviously creates a
cloud on your title. It's going to cost you money
(06:55):
for an attorney and time to unwide the unwanted if
you will that fraud and the other problem. Obviously, somebody
is not going through all of this just to own
your home. They're going through all of this to do
one of two things. Either turn around and sell that
home to an unsuspected person who that person they're selling
(07:18):
it to is going to go to the Registered deeds
office see that there's a deed recorded with their registered
deeds showing that the property got transferred to this fraudster.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Or it's possible that they.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Will then go and turn around and apply for a
mortgage on the property just like you. But hey, I've
got property. I'm going to the bank. I want to
get a loan. They're going to put a lien on
the property. I'm looking for the money. So some of
the fraudsters actually are there to sell it, and some
of them are there merely to get the cash. They
(07:51):
don't care whether it sells or not. They now have
the money from the bank. So that is what deed
fraud is today, and because of the ready availability for
online records, it's becoming a bigger problem. Now, let's say
(08:14):
you have a mortgage on your property. Well, okay, what
a mortgage does is it has a lien. The bank
is going to have a recorded lien on your property,
so that if somebody goes to the registered deed's office,
they will see, Hey, there's a lien on this property.
(08:35):
This owner owes money to bank A and before I
can receive good title from somebody who's trying to transfer
it to me, BANKA needs to be paid off. So
there's a lien on the property, and that makes it
more difficult than for the fraudster to actually transfer the
(09:01):
property one in the first place. They're discouraged because of
the LEAN. So when they're looking through registered deeds records,
they can find out if you have a lien on
your property. Same register of deeds records that's going to
show that mortgage is also going to show any liens
that are on the property. So with the LEAN, in
all likelihood, the fraudster is going to say, wait a minute,
(09:22):
I'm going to look for a property that doesn't have
a lien on it, because if I'm going to try
and commit a fraud, I now have to be dealing
with the bank, and I have to convince the bank
that it's a fraud, that it's a correct transfer, and
I just don't want to deal with any of that.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
So we're going to be looking for property.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
They're going to be looking for property that doesn't have
a lien, which means what you've got a mortgage, you
pay your mortgage off, that lean is going to be discharged.
And so when that lien gets discharged your bank, essentially
(10:02):
that protection of the lean, protecting not not designed to
but in practicality protecting you from the roster fraudster, goes away.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
So think about that, all right.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
The vulnerability, the biggest vulnerability, is going to be for
mortgage free homes. Most of us are excited when we
finally pay off our mortgage. I remember when my wife
and I paid off the mortgage on our home. Isn't
that great? We've made our last payment. We own the
home outright. We don't have to make these monthly payments
(10:42):
to the mortgage company, we don't have to have an
escrow for our taxes, insurance, et cetera, et cetera, And
we now own the home free and clear, and we
get a copy of that mortgage discharge, and we say
we've accomplished the American dream of owning a mortgage free home. Unfortunately, though,
(11:04):
from what I just discussed, that status of now being
mortgage free can actually make your property an easier target
for deed fraud, and often, unfortunately, as we know, oftentimes fraud,
(11:25):
whether it's a fraudulent deed transfer or other types of
fraud that we've talked about before, often target seniors and
long term homeowners. Why because it's the seniors or the
long term homeowner that it has likely paid off their home.
If somebody is young and just bought the home, they're
(11:47):
likely going to have a mortgage on it, and that
mortgage is going to effectively prevent them from that mortgage
d that fraudulent deed occurring.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
So they're going to be again.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
Targeting seniors and targeting long term home owners. So you've
paid your mortgage off, you don't want to take out
a new mortgage because it's paid off, you don't want
to be making payments.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Well, consider.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
A home equity line of credit called a heelock.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
What is that?
Speaker 1 (12:28):
So you go to your bank or your lightening institution,
whoever you're dealing with, and you set up a home
equity line of credit. That doesn't mean you're actually taking
the money. It simply means you could take the money
if you decide that you need it. But in that
process of taking out the heelock. What's going to happen.
(12:50):
Your bank, your credit union, your mortgage company, whoever you're
getting the heelock through, is going to put a lean.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
On your property.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
It's very similar to a mortgage in the sense that
it's a lean.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
Okay, just like.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
Your mortgage would have a lien on your property. But
the difference can be you're not taking the money, You're
just setting up the ability to take money if you should.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Decide that you needed to use the fund.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
So once you do that, go back to our fraudster,
go back to someone who's looking at register deed's records.
They're looking saying, hey, this home has a lean against it.
We're gonna skip over this one. We're not gonna commit
fraud on this home because it has a lean. Why because,
(13:42):
just like that mortgage, if they want to try now
selling that home, the lean has to be addressed. The
lean holder, the lender is going to be involved.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
And so again that's going.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
To add that layer of security and verification before any
transfer occurs. So pay your home off, get rid of
your mortgage. But one way to address and protect yourself
now from the vulnerabilility that is basically now being created
(14:17):
by paying your mortgage off is to put in place
a helock. Now, if you do this, obviously there's going
to be a cost involved with it. You're going to
have to check, you know, with your different lenders on
what's the appropriate helock for you and what's the cost
of doing that. But that's all part of the consideration
(14:44):
in trying to protect your home from that fraud. Now
you might be saying, too, Hey, you know what I
see on TV these services right where they say they're
going to check my they're going to check my real
estate for me, They're going to let me know and
they're going to protect my real estate from being sold
to fraudsters. Well, the problem, the problem with that service
(15:07):
is they are not knowing that a new deed has
been prepared. They don't know when a new deed has
been recorded. They are finding out on your behalf that
a new deed has been recorded sometime after it's been recorded.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Well, you could do the exact same thing. You could say,
you know.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
What, every month, every month, I'm going to go online,
I'm going to.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Go look at the registered deeds records.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
I'm going to look at my home on the registered
deeds records to find out if there has been a
transfer of my home.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
But all of that is after the fact.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
By then, by the time you find out, it's very
possible that that home has been old, or that home
has now had a mortgage, or that your home not
that home, your home has been sold, or that your
home has had a mortgage on it. What the heelock
(16:13):
does for you is that it puts a layer of
security in varication before the home can be sold, before
a mortgage.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
Can be placed on the property.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
So don't listen to those TV ads and think that
that's somehow a solution to your problem. Also, we're very
keen on recommending to our clients if available. Oftentimes the
registered deed's offices do themselves have services available where they
(16:47):
will notify you if a deed gets recorded. Well, again,
they're notifying you after the deed's been recorded, which by
then and by the time you find that out, if
somebody's going to fraudulently take your deed, they're not looking
to hold on to that deed. It's getting it recorded,
(17:09):
it's getting it sold asap, or taking out a loan asap,
all which could occur before you even know it. Think
though too, there can be some additional benefits to you
of the helock. Beyond avoiding the fraudulent transfer, it would
(17:31):
give you access to emergency funds. So if you've got
a helock set up, even if you haven't taken the money,
usually it's pretty quick when you contact your lender to
have funds put into your account. Also, if you are
going to borrow money, if you think about it, that
by virtue of a helock, oftentimes the interest rates might
(17:56):
in fact be lower than other forms of credit, so
you might be better off using those funds that are
available to even pay off higher credit maybe credit cards
or whatever it happens that you have. And generally speaking,
with a helock, you don't have to take the money,
(18:18):
you don't have to draw the funds.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
You can just leave it in the bank.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
While you're still receiving the protection of that lean that's
been filed against your property. Obviously you sell the property then,
or your air sell the property, the lean's going to
have to be discharged, certainly, but if you haven't borrowed
anything under the heelock, there's really nothing to repay. It's
(18:45):
just getting the lean discharge. Now, some other fraud prevention
measures again that you might consider one regularly monitor your
records through your Registered deed's office. But now you have
to do that, you have to regularly go out and
look and see if somebody has put a lien on
your home. Again, sign up for that property fraud Alert
(19:09):
service from the Registered Deeds office, because that's normally free.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
I'm not talking about one of.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
These services that you see advertising on TV where they're
essentially charging you to do what you can do for free,
which is to regularly go and look at your records
if that's what you want to do, or at least
sign up with the fraud alert service from your Registered
deeds which is again generally free with at least as
(19:39):
far as I know, most if not all other registered
deeds offices in the state of Michigan. And of course,
identity theft in general. This has nothing to do with
the real estate, but identity and JEFF in general. Please
make sure you're keeping your personal identification information secure. Please
(20:00):
know if you're giving out your Social Security number, who
you're giving it to and why you're giving it to them,
Or if you're giving somebody even a copy of the
deed to your home, why are you giving it to
somebody and what are they going to do with that?
All those kinds of things, birthdays, all those kinds of things,
which generally simply has to do in general with preventing
(20:22):
identity theft. So enclosing you've paid off your mortgage, please
consider having If you haven't paid your mortgage off, don't
worry about it because there's a lean. But if you've
paid your mortgage off, I encourage you consider having a
heelock as a tool to protect your home from fraudulent
(20:44):
ded transfers. In fact, we have been told recently about
by a client who when they went to their bank,
and we're doing banking for other reasons, that bank apparently,
when they are talking to their customers, who in fact
have paid off their mortgages, that they are recommending to
(21:09):
their customers, they are affirmatively saying to their customers, hey,
your home would be more secure from a fraudulent transfer
if you take out a helock. So some of the
banks are even getting involved in attempting, apparently to be
proactive in protecting their customers. So meet with your bank,
(21:32):
or meet with your credit union, wherever it is that
you're doing your banking and explore what it would take to.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
Get a helock.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
And again, remember it's not really about borrowing money. I
know some of you look and say, well, I don't
want to borrow more money. I don't want to have
a lean against my home because I paid it off.
It's not about that at all. You don't have to
borrow the money. You just need to set up the
helock so that you create that protective shield on your title.
(22:03):
So review your situation, speak with a trusted lender, and
if need be, even consult with professional legal professional such
as US. But you probably aren't going to need that
so much as much as it is just working with
your own lender to see what it would take to
(22:26):
put that helock in place. Of course, as all simply
(22:54):
switching gears a little bit, Aman and I would be
honored to help you protect but you love.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
Whether that means.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
Creating a new estate plan for you, updating an existing one,
or perhaps answering your questions if you have any about
today's program, or guiding you through the estate settlement process
during a difficult time. We try to make it easy
and convenient to get started. We have appointments in office,
appointments available in both Grand Rapids and lancing. We have
(23:26):
virtual consultations that can be by sooom or phoned wherever
you are in the state of Michigan. And if all
you're looking for is one document, Let's say you already
have your state plan in place, but you need a
new certificate of trust, or maybe you need a new
power of attorney, whatever happens to be encourage you visit
(23:47):
the legal store at our website where you can order
individual documents online and all of that. How to schedule
an appointment, whether it's in person or virtual, or our
legal store all available at Doyle LAWPC dot com, which
is the website for the office. Well, I think that's
(24:28):
going to be a wrap for today's show.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
As always.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
Ooh, if you have a comment or a question you'd
like to have answered, or a topic that you'd like
me to cover in a future episode, head over to
Tuesday with Tom dot com. There you can leave a
voice message by clicking on the microphone, or you can
always send me an email that would be Tom at
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(24:52):
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(25:12):
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(25:34):
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(25:58):
thanks again for spending part of your day with us,
and as always, stay safe, have an awesome week in Michigan.
Tuesday with Tom has been brought to you by the
estate planning attorneys at Doyle Law PC. To learn how
(26:21):
we can help you with your estate plan or with
settling a loved one's estate, please call us today at
five one seven three two three seven three sixty six.
That's five one seven three two three seven three sixty six.
Well, good afternoon, Michiganders, and welcome back to Tuesday with
Tom Michigan's Only podcast where we talk about estate planning,
a state settlement, and everything in between. As always, I'm
your host, Tom Doyle, the state planning attorney, lifelong Michigander
and your guide to planning for your future. Brief recap
(00:58):
of last episode, Goodbye to Paper Checks. I talked about
the new federal e payments mandate that is going to
likely affect all of you that are listening to this
program because it means the federal government is no longer
going to be issuing paper checks, and the federal government
(01:22):
is no longer going to be accepting your paper check
for deposit. So you have your income tax return prepared,
you owe taxes, you normally write a check and you
send it off, or you're making your quarterly payments, you
write a check and you send it off. None of
that is going to be available for you any longer.
(01:44):
What you're going to have to do is have things
done electronically. Or you're looking for a tax refund. You
might have waited for that check to come in the
mail so that you could cash it. That check is
not coming in the mail. It's going to have to
be electronically transferred to you by the federal government. So
(02:05):
all of you need to be aware of this important
change that takes effect on October first, which is only
about seven days from now. So I encourage all of
you listen to last week's episode today's show though, protecting
(02:26):
your home from fraudulent deed transfers with a heelock. But
remember what I'm about to discuss is meant to be
for educational purposes only. It is not intended to be
legal advice. As always, you need to work with your attorney,
your tax advisor, your financial advisor to determine what makes
(02:51):
the most sense for you and your planning. Protecting your
home from fraudulent deed transfers with a helock. Well, let's
just start out with what is happening and why deed
(03:15):
fraud is a growing problem in the age of online
real estate records. Today, in most counties in the state
of Michigan, real estate records are available either for free
or for a very small price for downloading through an
(03:36):
internet connection. So anybody can go to a Register of
Deed's office where your home is located. Most likely we'll
be able to download a copy of that deed. Now,
there can be very good reasons why people might need
to download a copy of your deed. You might need
(03:56):
a copy, we might.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Need a copy in preparing your estate.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
But here is the fraud problem that is brought about
because of online real estate records. Anybody can go download
a copy of the deed. Anybody can then prepare a
deed transferring that property from you to somebody else. Anybody
(04:24):
could sign or have that deed sign and with the
cooperation of a notary who might not actually even be
a legitimate notary but is willing to sign on as
a notary, you will have had a deed or they
will have had a deed prepared transferring your property from
(04:47):
you to somebody else. So that is what a fraudulent
deed transfer is, downloading a deed, preparing a new fake deed,
having it executed and notarized and recorded in Many of
you right there are going to be saying to yourself, says,
(05:09):
wait a minute, the deed has to be recorded. Doesn't
the Register of Deeds office make sure that I actually
executed the deed before they record it? Short answer, No,
all the Registered Deed's office is doing is making sure
(05:30):
that the deed on its face meets the statutory requirements
for recording a deed. That is, it's got appropriate margins,
it's executed, it's got a notary, it's legible, it has
a legal description, et cetera, et cetera. So the registered
deed's office simply records the deed. They don't call you
(05:55):
up and say, hey, Bob, did you sign this deed
that is now being recorded.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
They don't do any of that.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
So, now, what's the consequence to you when this fraudulent
deed is prepared?
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Well?
Speaker 1 (06:11):
One that deed now creates a title, creates a cloud
on your title to your property because anybody who would
then go to their registered deed's office and look to
see who owns it, which is normally what happens when
somebody is going to buy property. It's going to show
(06:33):
somebody else owns it. If you tried selling the property,
you would discover that, in fact, it had been transferred
to somebody else without your knowledge, which obviously creates a
cloud on your title. It's going to cost you money
(06:55):
for an attorney and time to unwide the unwanted if
you will that fraud and the other problem. Obviously, somebody
is not going through all of this just to own
your home. They're going through all of this to do
one of two things. Either turn around and sell that
home to an unsuspected person who that person they're selling
(07:18):
it to is going to go to the Registered deeds
office see that there's a deed recorded with their registered
deeds showing that the property got transferred to this fraudster.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Or it's possible that they.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Will then go and turn around and apply for a
mortgage on the property just like you. But hey, I've
got property. I'm going to the bank. I want to
get a loan. They're going to put a lien on
the property. I'm looking for the money. So some of
the fraudsters actually are there to sell it, and some
of them are there merely to get the cash. They
(07:51):
don't care whether it sells or not. They now have
the money from the bank. So that is what deed
fraud is today, and because of the ready availability for
online records, it's becoming a bigger problem. Now, let's say
(08:14):
you have a mortgage on your property. Well, okay, what
a mortgage does is it has a lien. The bank
is going to have a recorded lien on your property,
so that if somebody goes to the registered deed's office,
they will see, Hey, there's a lien on this property.
(08:35):
This owner owes money to bank A and before I
can receive good title from somebody who's trying to transfer
it to me, BANKA needs to be paid off. So
there's a lien on the property, and that makes it
more difficult than for the fraudster to actually transfer the
(09:01):
property one in the first place. They're discouraged because of
the LEAN. So when they're looking through registered deeds records,
they can find out if you have a lien on
your property. Same register of deeds records that's going to
show that mortgage is also going to show any liens
that are on the property. So with the LEAN, in
all likelihood, the fraudster is going to say, wait a minute,
(09:22):
I'm going to look for a property that doesn't have
a lien on it, because if I'm going to try
and commit a fraud, I now have to be dealing
with the bank, and I have to convince the bank
that it's a fraud, that it's a correct transfer, and
I just don't want to deal with any of that.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
So we're going to be looking for property.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
They're going to be looking for property that doesn't have
a lien, which means what you've got a mortgage, you
pay your mortgage off, that lean is going to be discharged.
And so when that lien gets discharged your bank, essentially
(10:02):
that protection of the lean, protecting not not designed to
but in practicality protecting you from the roster fraudster, goes away.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
So think about that, all right.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
The vulnerability, the biggest vulnerability, is going to be for
mortgage free homes. Most of us are excited when we
finally pay off our mortgage. I remember when my wife
and I paid off the mortgage on our home. Isn't
that great? We've made our last payment. We own the
home outright. We don't have to make these monthly payments
(10:42):
to the mortgage company, we don't have to have an
escrow for our taxes, insurance, et cetera, et cetera, And
we now own the home free and clear, and we
get a copy of that mortgage discharge, and we say
we've accomplished the American dream of owning a mortgage free home. Unfortunately, though,
(11:04):
from what I just discussed, that status of now being
mortgage free can actually make your property an easier target
for deed fraud, and often, unfortunately, as we know, oftentimes fraud,
(11:25):
whether it's a fraudulent deed transfer or other types of
fraud that we've talked about before, often target seniors and
long term homeowners. Why because it's the seniors or the
long term homeowner that it has likely paid off their home.
If somebody is young and just bought the home, they're
(11:47):
likely going to have a mortgage on it, and that
mortgage is going to effectively prevent them from that mortgage
d that fraudulent deed occurring.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
So they're going to be again.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
Targeting seniors and targeting long term home owners. So you've
paid your mortgage off, you don't want to take out
a new mortgage because it's paid off, you don't want
to be making payments.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Well, consider.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
A home equity line of credit called a heelock.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
What is that?
Speaker 1 (12:28):
So you go to your bank or your lightening institution,
whoever you're dealing with, and you set up a home
equity line of credit. That doesn't mean you're actually taking
the money. It simply means you could take the money
if you decide that you need it. But in that
process of taking out the heelock. What's going to happen.
(12:50):
Your bank, your credit union, your mortgage company, whoever you're
getting the heelock through, is going to put a lean.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
On your property.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
It's very similar to a mortgage in the sense that
it's a lean.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
Okay, just like.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
Your mortgage would have a lien on your property. But
the difference can be you're not taking the money, You're
just setting up the ability to take money if you should.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Decide that you needed to use the fund.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
So once you do that, go back to our fraudster,
go back to someone who's looking at register deed's records.
They're looking saying, hey, this home has a lean against it.
We're gonna skip over this one. We're not gonna commit
fraud on this home because it has a lean. Why because,
(13:42):
just like that mortgage, if they want to try now
selling that home, the lean has to be addressed. The
lean holder, the lender is going to be involved.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
And so again that's going.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
To add that layer of security and verification before any
transfer occurs. So pay your home off, get rid of
your mortgage. But one way to address and protect yourself
now from the vulnerabilility that is basically now being created
(14:17):
by paying your mortgage off is to put in place
a helock. Now, if you do this, obviously there's going
to be a cost involved with it. You're going to
have to check, you know, with your different lenders on
what's the appropriate helock for you and what's the cost
of doing that. But that's all part of the consideration
(14:44):
in trying to protect your home from that fraud. Now
you might be saying, too, Hey, you know what I
see on TV these services right where they say they're
going to check my they're going to check my real
estate for me, They're going to let me know and
they're going to protect my real estate from being sold
to fraudsters. Well, the problem, the problem with that service
(15:07):
is they are not knowing that a new deed has
been prepared. They don't know when a new deed has
been recorded. They are finding out on your behalf that
a new deed has been recorded sometime after it's been recorded.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Well, you could do the exact same thing. You could say,
you know.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
What, every month, every month, I'm going to go online,
I'm going to.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Go look at the registered deeds records.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
I'm going to look at my home on the registered
deeds records to find out if there has been a
transfer of my home.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
But all of that is after the fact.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
By then, by the time you find out, it's very
possible that that home has been old, or that home
has now had a mortgage, or that your home not
that home, your home has been sold, or that your
home has had a mortgage on it. What the heelock
(16:13):
does for you is that it puts a layer of
security in varication before the home can be sold, before
a mortgage.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
Can be placed on the property.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
So don't listen to those TV ads and think that
that's somehow a solution to your problem. Also, we're very
keen on recommending to our clients if available. Oftentimes the
registered deed's offices do themselves have services available where they
(16:47):
will notify you if a deed gets recorded. Well, again,
they're notifying you after the deed's been recorded, which by
then and by the time you find that out, if
somebody's going to fraudulently take your deed, they're not looking
to hold on to that deed. It's getting it recorded,
(17:09):
it's getting it sold asap, or taking out a loan asap,
all which could occur before you even know it. Think
though too, there can be some additional benefits to you
of the helock. Beyond avoiding the fraudulent transfer, it would
(17:31):
give you access to emergency funds. So if you've got
a helock set up, even if you haven't taken the money,
usually it's pretty quick when you contact your lender to
have funds put into your account. Also, if you are
going to borrow money, if you think about it, that
by virtue of a helock, oftentimes the interest rates might
(17:56):
in fact be lower than other forms of credit, so
you might be better off using those funds that are
available to even pay off higher credit maybe credit cards
or whatever it happens that you have. And generally speaking,
with a helock, you don't have to take the money,
(18:18):
you don't have to draw the funds.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
You can just leave it in the bank.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
While you're still receiving the protection of that lean that's
been filed against your property. Obviously you sell the property then,
or your air sell the property, the lean's going to
have to be discharged, certainly, but if you haven't borrowed
anything under the heelock, there's really nothing to repay. It's
(18:45):
just getting the lean discharge. Now, some other fraud prevention
measures again that you might consider one regularly monitor your
records through your Registered deed's office. But now you have
to do that, you have to regularly go out and
look and see if somebody has put a lien on
your home. Again, sign up for that property fraud Alert
(19:09):
service from the Registered Deeds office, because that's normally free.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
I'm not talking about one of.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
These services that you see advertising on TV where they're
essentially charging you to do what you can do for free,
which is to regularly go and look at your records
if that's what you want to do, or at least
sign up with the fraud alert service from your Registered
deeds which is again generally free with at least as
(19:39):
far as I know, most if not all other registered
deeds offices in the state of Michigan. And of course,
identity theft in general. This has nothing to do with
the real estate, but identity and JEFF in general. Please
make sure you're keeping your personal identification information secure. Please
(20:00):
know if you're giving out your Social Security number, who
you're giving it to and why you're giving it to them,
Or if you're giving somebody even a copy of the
deed to your home, why are you giving it to
somebody and what are they going to do with that?
All those kinds of things, birthdays, all those kinds of things,
which generally simply has to do in general with preventing
(20:22):
identity theft. So enclosing you've paid off your mortgage, please
consider having If you haven't paid your mortgage off, don't
worry about it because there's a lean. But if you've
paid your mortgage off, I encourage you consider having a
heelock as a tool to protect your home from fraudulent
(20:44):
ded transfers. In fact, we have been told recently about
by a client who when they went to their bank,
and we're doing banking for other reasons, that bank apparently,
when they are talking to their customers, who in fact
have paid off their mortgages, that they are recommending to
(21:09):
their customers, they are affirmatively saying to their customers, hey,
your home would be more secure from a fraudulent transfer
if you take out a helock. So some of the
banks are even getting involved in attempting, apparently to be
proactive in protecting their customers. So meet with your bank,
(21:32):
or meet with your credit union, wherever it is that
you're doing your banking and explore what it would take to.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
Get a helock.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
And again, remember it's not really about borrowing money. I
know some of you look and say, well, I don't
want to borrow more money. I don't want to have
a lean against my home because I paid it off.
It's not about that at all. You don't have to
borrow the money. You just need to set up the
helock so that you create that protective shield on your title.
(22:03):
So review your situation, speak with a trusted lender, and
if need be, even consult with professional legal professional such
as US. But you probably aren't going to need that
so much as much as it is just working with
your own lender to see what it would take to
(22:26):
put that helock in place. Of course, as all simply
(22:54):
switching gears a little bit, Aman and I would be
honored to help you protect but you love.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
Whether that means.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
Creating a new estate plan for you, updating an existing one,
or perhaps answering your questions if you have any about
today's program, or guiding you through the estate settlement process
during a difficult time. We try to make it easy
and convenient to get started. We have appointments in office,
appointments available in both Grand Rapids and lancing. We have
(23:26):
virtual consultations that can be by sooom or phoned wherever
you are in the state of Michigan. And if all
you're looking for is one document, Let's say you already
have your state plan in place, but you need a
new certificate of trust, or maybe you need a new
power of attorney, whatever happens to be encourage you visit
(23:47):
the legal store at our website where you can order
individual documents online and all of that. How to schedule
an appointment, whether it's in person or virtual, or our
legal store all available at Doyle LAWPC dot com, which
is the website for the office. Well, I think that's
(24:28):
going to be a wrap for today's show.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
As always.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
Ooh, if you have a comment or a question you'd
like to have answered, or a topic that you'd like
me to cover in a future episode, head over to
Tuesday with Tom dot com. There you can leave a
voice message by clicking on the microphone, or you can
always send me an email that would be Tom at
Tuesday with Tom. Please be sure to follow us on
(24:52):
Facebook invite your family and friends to do the same.
That again is Tuesday with Tom and the Office is
of course Doyle Law PC, and don't forget subscribe to
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with Tom dot com or at Doyle LAWPC. So either
(25:12):
one of those you can subscribe and you will begin
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that we think would be of interest to you. Remember too,
you can listen to Tuesday with Tom wherever you enjoy
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(25:34):
Speaker probably wherever it is you listen to your podcast,
you're going to find us. And if you don't tell
us about that, and we'll see what it would take
for us to be available on that channel that you
prefer to listen to your podcast. And remember too, you
can always ask your smart speaker to play Tuesday with Tom. Well,
(25:58):
thanks again for spending part of your day with us,
and as always, stay safe, have an awesome week in Michigan.
Tuesday with Tom has been brought to you by the
estate planning attorneys at Doyle Law PC. To learn how
(26:21):
we can help you with your estate plan or with
settling a loved one's estate, please call us today at
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That's five one seven three two three seven three sixty six.
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