The St. Johns County Clerk of the Circuit Court and County Comptroller’s Office launched a public service announcement earlier this month designed to educate residents about the growing threat of property fraud.
The PSA, created by students from George Washington University, will also run on local news stations and social media platforms within St. Johns County.
Clerk Brandon J. Patty, a George Washington University alum, coordinated the class project to engage and inspire students preparing to enter the workforce and to help get residential property owners to subscribe to the clerk’s free property fraud alerts.
According to a news release, the students were assigned to craft compelling campaigns with a powerful message, “property fraud is real, and it’s on the rise.”
“The opportunity to support these students while also spreading awareness about a critical issue was a win-win,” Patty said. “The final PSA is even more beneficial to help inform St. Johns County homeowners.”
The class spoke with Patty via zoom and worked with Melissa Bergman, public affairs director for the clerk’s office, who guided and critiqued the teams that worked in groups and those working solo on Instagram reels, a TV and radio PSA and website content.
Hannah Lane, a communications major with a minor in anthropology, told the St. Augustine Record that working on the project was cool, exciting, fun and daunting.
“We learned so much,” she said. “We learned how common and easy it is to claim a deed in the clerk’s office or online.”
Lane described the project as perfect for teaching her, a communication major, how to communicate and build bridges across different populations.
“We were tasked with creating awareness campaigns to show different generations how to protect their homes and keep themselves safe,” she said. “We targeted Instagram to a younger demographic whereas the television PSA was targeted to an older demographic so we could help more people keep their homes safe.
“I learned how to work closely with a group of people with shared goals and shared tasks that were planned ahead of time to make sure to stay on track,” she said. “We had lists of rules to make sure that everything was running smoothly, which was incredibly helpful to my team.”
Lane added that “exchanging feedback with Melissa was an excellent experience.”
“I’m really grateful to have actually used what I learned in real time and apply it to the real world,” she said. “Class taught me so much.”
Lane said that even she was impressed with everyone’s final presentations. However, Lane learned that Bergman, Patty and her professor chose her PSA TV spot to air with local St. Johns County media.
“That was really cool,” she said. “And very exciting.”
To watch the PSA, go to https://stjohnsclerk.com/psa.
About Property Fraud
Described as one of the fastest-growing white-collar crimes in the country by the FBI, property fraud often goes undetected, allowing owners to lose their property within weeks of a fraudulent filing.
“It begins when a real estate agent gets a solicitation from a fake property owner wanting to sell their vacant lot in a rural community,” the FBI website says. “A for-sale sign goes up on the land. The seller asks for an all-cash sale and a quick closing. Within weeks, the deal can be done.”
According to the FBI, documents that are filed properly – and paid for – can be entered as official records, even if they’re fraudulent.
“Meanwhile, the real property owner has no idea their land has just been sold out from under them,” they said. “It’s vacant land fraud, and it’s happening at an alarming pace.”
Recognizing June as National Homeownership Month, Patty said that the St. Johns County’s Clerk’s office is committed to combating the threat of property fraud through public education and tools including the free Recording Activity Notification Service, which alerts homeowners when a document is filed into the official records under their name.
“When receiving an email alert, a subscriber knows to take prompt, appropriate action if the recording activity is determined to be fraudulent,” Patty said in a news release. “The alert email will provide a subscriber with an Official Records (OR) book and page number to view the document in public records. The book and page number is the document number on the email alert.”
Patty emphasized that the notification service doesn’t prevent property fraud.
“Anyone can illegally record a fraudulent deed, mortgage, or lien against a property,” he said. “The free early warning system is a tool to help subscribers become aware of activity that may have otherwise gone undetected.”
Since launching in 2018, almost 30,000 residents have signed up for the St. Johns County’s free alert system, including 2,365 new users this year.
“The clerk’s office urges all St. Johns County property owners to register for the free noticing service, which will alert you via email any time an Official Record document is recorded in your name with clerk’s office,” he said.
St. Johns County is among many counties in Florida now offering the property fraud alert service.
To sign up for the free service, go to https://stjohnsclerk.com/recording-activity.
This article originally appeared on St. Augustine Record: St. Johns County clerk lashes out at property fraud, with a little help from college students
Reporting by Lucia Viti, St. Augustine Record / St. Augustine Record
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
