House Scams

Every so often a client will ask whether a letter they received is a scam, or not. There are a few we have seen many times, but they look so real if it is your first experience. It’s scary! They might name people you know, addresses you or your loved ones live at, and give customer ID numbers for accounts you never had with their company. Here are a few examples of the more common house scam letters we have seen.

The Home Warranty. Today a client gave me a letter from “Home Warranty Division”, referencing a warranty that the letter says Stephen Allaire (our firm’s founder) put in place. It looks official, and has the name of their trusted lawyer who helped set up their family trust. But my firm has never set up a home warranty for a trust unless it is a new purchase of a home. This scam is using the name of a trusted person to try and sell a policy that has nothing to do with any original warranty or title insurance. It scares you with a deadline to call them, and says “failure to call and prevent a potential lapse in coverage could result in you being liable for all costs associated with home repairs.” It may not even be a real policy, never mind an unnecessary extra policy. And hopefully you have homeowner’s insurance anyway.

Recorded Deed Notice. This letter offers a paid service, for about $130.00, to obtain a copy of the new homeowner’s “property assessment profile.” Clients often get this scam letter after we help them place their property into a trust. These scammers watch the public land records to see when ownership has changed, then contact the new owner to offer to help them get evidence that the property was in fact transferred. The information they are selling is publicly available and free to obtain. Assessed value, tax cost, what the sales price of the home was, square footage. You can get nearly all of this through your Town Hall or websites like realtor.com and Zillow.com.

Final Notice. Immediate response required. This will be our final attempt to contact you before we close the file. A legitimate company would make multiple attempts to notify you of any issue prior to a final notice. You should have mail, or missed calls and voicemails. This is something you should be able to verify. Any letter that starts with “Final Notice” when you are sure no prior notices were given is most likely a scam. They are playing on your fear response. If you feel rushed to take action because you fear getting into trouble, you are more likely to open your wallet. Slow down and think. Is someone else handling your bills? Are they on autopay already? Does your checkbook ledger seem to show that you have everything up to date? Someone might be trying to scare you out of your hard earned money.

It is not easy to tell the difference sometimes. If you are ever unsure, double check with a trusted resource like your attorney, your utilities provider(s), Town Hall, or the Better Business Bureau which has a scam tracker. Never call the number listed unless you are sure it is safe. Never respond directly unless you are sure. Don’t let them put you on the hook!

Attorney Halley C. Allaire is principal in the law firm of Allaire Elder Law, a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, Inc., with an office at 271 Farmington Avenue, Bristol, (860) 259-1500, or on the web at www.allaireelderlaw.com. If you have a question, send a note to Attorney Halley C. Allaire and your question may be discussed in a future column.