Connecticut’s SmartMLS has announced that it will introduce a new Ownership Verification tool from Property Shield designed to help real estate professionals combat seller-impersonation and vacant-land scams.
According to a release, the new technology, expected to become available to SmartMLS next week, provides an additional way for real estate professionals to verify the identity of someone claiming to own a property before accepting a listing.
Seller-impersonation fraud typically begins when a scammer poses as a property owner and contacts a real estate professional seeking to list and sell property the scammer does not own. These schemes can be particularly difficult to identify when the property is vacant land or when the purported seller communicates remotely.
“Seller-impersonation scams can be difficult to identify.” said Kathy Elson, CEO of SmartMLS. “We want to give our users a tool to help verify a prospective seller’s identity and identify a potential problem as early in the listing process as possible.”
An additional step when something doesn’t look right
Property Shield’s Ownership Verification tool is designed to help determine whether the individual claiming to be the property owner is who they say they are.
The verification process uses identity verification and facial-recognition technology in conjunction with property ownership information to provide an additional layer of protection when questions arise about the identity of a prospective seller.
Rather than relying solely on documents, emails, telephone conversations, or information supplied by the prospective seller, real estate professionals will have a tool available to help evaluate whether the person attempting to list the property is legitimate.
“Real estate professionals are often on the front line when seller-impersonation fraud is attempted,” Elson said. “The challenge is that a sophisticated scammer may have enough information about the property and its owner to appear legitimate. Ownership Verification gives our users another way to ask an important question before proceeding: Is this really the property owner?”
Helping stop fraud before a listing enters the MLS
Ownership Verification complements the Listing Fraud Protection technology SmartMLS has already introduced through its partnership with Property Shield.
The two technologies address fraud at different points.
Listing Fraud Protection helps identify when legitimate SmartMLS listing information is copied and used in potentially fraudulent advertisements across the web.
Ownership Verification is designed to help identify potential seller impersonation before a fraudulent listing enters the MLS.
Together, the tools provide SmartMLS users with additional ways to identify and respond to real estate fraud.
“Seller impersonation and vacant-land fraud are difficult problems because the person committing the fraud may never meet the agent face-to-face,” said Alexander Fahsel, CEO of Property Shield. “Ownership Verification gives real estate professionals another layer of information to help determine whether the person they are dealing with is actually connected to the property they are attempting to sell.”
Technology supporting professional judgment
Ownership Verification is intended to provide an additional fraud-prevention tool, not replace the judgment and due diligence of the real estate professional.
A successful verification should not eliminate other appropriate steps when circumstances surrounding a prospective listing raise concerns. Similarly, an issue identified during verification can provide an important signal that additional investigation may be warranted before proceeding with the listing.
“Our goal isn’t to replace the due diligence brokers and agents already perform,” Elson said. “It’s to give them a better tool when they need it. If something about a prospective seller or listing doesn’t add up, we want our users to have another way to investigate before moving forward.”
For more information, visit smartmls.com and propertyshield.co.
