HousingWire is reporting that a new law in Georgia aims to protect residents from title theft. According to the report, House Bill 1292, which became effective on January 1st, requires anyone filing a deed or mortgage to present proper ID as well as being submitted via electronic filing.
“Title theft occurs when a criminal impersonates a property owner and sells or takes out a second mortgage on the owner’s property. In the worst-case scenario, the home goes into foreclosure and/or is deeded to a new purchaser. It is a complicated and expensive process to rectify, if it can be rectified at all,” the state attorney general’s office said in a statement.
“The law also allows the owner of any real property to bring an action against an individual who has knowingly filed, or recorded, in any public record a false or forged deed or other instrument purporting to convey the owner’s interest to such real property to such individual or a third party. Through this action, the law entitles the owner to recover actual damages caused by the filing, as well as the costs incurred to bring the action.”