Laramie County Launches Tool To Protect Against Property Fraud

UPDATE: The County Clerk's Office on Friday issued a correction to the contact number in the original release on Thursday. This article includes the corrected phone number.

Laramie County Clerk Debra Lee has announced a free service through her office designed to fight property fraud.

According to a news release, the Document Alert System sends an email notice to subscribers when someone uses their information in Laramie County to file property deeds, liens or similar items.

Residents can sign up for the free program here. Click on Document Alerts and choose Document Alert setup.

System Will Alert Property Owners Of Possible Fraud

According to the release Document Alert examines current recordings and corrections made to previously recorded documents, such as deeds and mortgages, government liens, trusts, and power-of-attorney filings, looking for matches to customer-specified criteria.  When the system identifies a possible match, an email notification is sent to the subscriber detailing the relevant information. Customers can then determine if the recording is legitimate or fraudulent.

Lee says alerts can be customized based on variations in the name or the property description. The release goes on to say "For more information and a step-by-step guide to setting up your Document Alert, visit the Real Estate-Recording page at https://www.laramiecountywy.gov/County-Government/Elected-Officials/County-Clerk, stop by the Clerk’s Recording office at the Laramie County Governmental Complex, 309 W 20^th St., Suite 1600, or call the office at 633-4350"

According to the FBI, property fraud often involves fake property owners who sell property out from under the legitimate owners without the actual owner having any idea what is happening before it is too late.