Vacant properties may be prime targets for scammers, putting property owners unknowingly at risk. About six in 10 real estate association advocacy professionals and leaders say they’ve seen cases of title fraud in their market over the past year, according to the National Association of REALTORS®’ 2025 Deed & Title Fraud Surveypdf.
Title fraud—also known as deed theft—is when someone illegally transfers the title or deed to the property without the true owner’s consent. Scammers often forge documents or use fake IDs to pose as property owners and then sell the property fraudulently.
REALTOR® associations and state legislatures are fighting back—with new alert systems, educational campaigns and policy reforms.
Who’s at Risk?
According to NAR’s survey, vacant properties are the most vulnerable. Only 12% of title fraud cases in the past year involved owner-occupied homes, while 62% involved vacant land. Detached single-family houses made up just 16% of reported cases, as scammers mostly target unmonitored parcels of land.
“Vacant parcels of land are a favorite target among title pirates because they are not occupied, and they are not usually closely monitored by their actual title owner, who may even be located out of state,” says attorney Victor Petrescu, partner at Levine Kellogg Lehman Schneider + Grossman LLP in Miami, who represents victims of real estate scams, in a previous REALTOR® Magazine article.
Petrescu warns that properties owned by recently deceased individuals or investment companies are frequent targets. In one Florida case from 2018, a group forged quitclaim deeds and powers of attorney to seize 44 homes—18 of which were owned by the estates of deceased individuals. They then rented, sold or even lived in the stolen properties before they were eventually caught.
How Seller Impersonation Scams Work
Tom Cronkright II, a real estate broker and co-founder of the fraud prevention firm CertifID, says vacant parcels are prime targets for seller impersonation scams. Through such scams, impersonators use forged documents, fake driver’s licenses, or falsified corporate paperwork to make it appear as though they own a property. Then, they can take out loans, rent the property or sell it to an unsuspecting buyer.
Scammers “will look through land records of each county, and vacant land is a top target,” Cronkright explains. “They’ll look at the records for the individual who owns it and will create an identity to line up with the ownership record. They’ll then go solicit a member of the MLS to list the property they don’t own.”
Once the property is listed by an unsuspecting real estate professional, the scam can unfold quickly—often involving a cash buyer, a remote closing with a notary the scammer arranges, and a quick transfer of funds before they disappear. “All of a sudden, days, weeks, months, maybe even years later, the rightful property owner learns the land was essentially stolen from them,” Cronkright says.
A 2023 survey from CertifID found that 54% of real estate professionals experienced at least one seller impersonation fraud attempt within six months. Meanwhile, 17% of title companies reported sending money to incorrect accounts due to fraud last year—and about half of those incidents happened more than once, according to the American Land Title Association.
Combating Fraud
REALTOR® associations and state legislatures are looking to add safeguards against these risks. The NAR survey of association leaders found these protocols were the most often favored:
- Electronic notification systems (83% of respondents perceived as effective): Current technology can send alerts to property owners when something is filed on their property. Such systems are already in place in states like Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Washington, NAR’s report shows.
- Property title freeze systems (61%): This solution works similarly to a credit freeze, which prevents unauthorized title transfers. States such as Arizona, Indiana and South Carolina have implemented this approach.
- Local recorders acting as stop-gates (60%): NAR leaders increasingly support allowing local recorders to flag suspicious filings and temporarily delay them for investigation—an option already available in states like Michigan, North Dakota, Tennessee and Washington.
Until such policies become more widespread, however, real estate professionals can play a critical role as the first line of defense—educating clients, spotting red flags and pointing them toward fraud prevention tools, Cronkright says.
Real estate executives in the NAR survey said other useful tools for raising awareness include video resources, new-member training content and consumer guides.
After all, according to CertifID’s 2025 State of Wire Fraud Report, 35% of buyers expect real estate agents to educate them about wire and title fraud risks in a real estate transaction. Nearly 80% of consumers say they would even choose an agent or broker who demonstrates strong fraud prevention practices—and be willing to pay more for that added sense of security.
“The findings underscore the prevalence of these scams and emphasize the need for comprehensive strategies to prevent and address title fraud and deed theft, ensuring the protection of property owners,” according to NAR’s report.
For more on how these scams unfold and how real estate pros can protect their clients, watch NAR’s Window to the Law video: Avoiding Vacant Land Scams.
Share these resources with your clients:
- Consumer Guide: Understanding & Protecting Yourself From Title Fraud
- NAR Legal Affairs Vacant Land Scams Tip Sheetpdf
