Niagara County Deed Scam Warning
LOCKPORT-Niagara County Clerk Wayne Jagow and County Legislator Danny Sklarski, D-Niagara, issued a warning to county property owners to beware of a letter seeking big bucks for a common and inexpensive government document.
The letter, which comes from a New York City address with an official-looking letterhead and bar codes, tells county homeowners that “the U.S. Government Federal Citizen Information Center [sic] website recommends that property owners should have an official or certified copy of their deed. If you don’t already have this important document, you may obtain one now. This document provides a record that your property was transferred to you.” The letter also identifies a specific parcel owned by the property owner receiving it. It then urges property owners to send $59.50 for a certified copy of their deed.
The same document can be obtained for a mere $5 at Jagow’s office in the Niagara County Courthouse, 175 Hawley St., Lockport. ”If you receive a letter in the mail soliciting $60 for a certified copy of the deed to your property, and that gives the impression that it’s coming from the Niagara County Clerk’s Office, it is not,” Jagow said. “This is a scam. It is an unnecessary expense for property owners to bear.”
Jagow said the dramatic mark-up in the cost was a tactic used by con artists to profit from homeowners that are both trusting of seeming authority and concerned with protecting their property from, ironically enough, con artists and scams.
“It’s coming at an unfortunate time, when people are in an economic situation where dollars really do count, and unfortunately there are individuals that are taking advantage of very conscientious homeowners who want to do the right thing,” Jagow said. “But this solicitation for a $60 fee is nothing more than a scam.”
Sklarski expressed anger that county residents were being targeted by individuals using a loophole in the law to make a quick buck. “It’s a shame that during our hard economic times that there are vendors such as this that try and scam the residents of Niagara County,” Sklarski said. “I think that what this company is doing, especially in the economic times that we have, goes beyond moral ethics. Taking advantage of anyone should be against the law-especially during the situation we have now throughout the United States with the hard times that so many people are experiencing. This is something that we should not tolerate.”
Sklarski said that right now, the best protection for property owners is to question any unusual solicitations for money for government documents. ”I would encourage that if you have the need to obtain this document, save the money, and get it from the county clerk’s office in Lockport,” Sklarski said.
Jagow said his staff is always available to answer property owners’ questions. The Land Records Division of the County Clerk’s Office records all documents pertaining to real property transactions occurring in Niagara County. The Clerk’s Office can be reached at (716) 439-7022, and residents can visit in person between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
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