ESSEX

In an effort to combat a recent uptick in property and mortgage fraud, the Town of Essex has implemented a new program to add an extra layer of protection for residents who may be targeted by cybercriminals.

Cott System’s PropertyCheck protection program is currently available on the town clerk’s web page at no cost to residents.

According to the web page, the 24/7 service “helps protect you from potential property fraud by automatically notifying you of any recorded document that affects your property, helping you feel safer about your properties and online security.”

Town Clerk Caitlin Riley added that, “PropertyCheck eliminates the time associated with searching for property records by alerting you via email or text message when a document has been recorded that matches the notifications activated.”

Riley said the service was brought to Essex following a property fraud case in Fairfield, while similar incidents have recently popped up in other municipalities in Connecticut.

“We’re seeing a little more of a tick in the fraudulent coming through,” said Riley. “It’s a minimal cost to the town, and it's an added level of protection for our residents.”

Riley added that while there are other forms of fraud of which people might be more mindful, it is equally important to keep an eye on your property and mortgage.

“You monitor your credit for credit-card charges, but you don’t think of your home as something that you monitor,” she said. “It could easily happen and you wouldn’t really have any clue that it had transacted.”

First Selectman Norm Needleman told the Valley Courier that the program is a “great thing for us to have” and that the town wants to “get as many people to sign on as possible, so about if anybody tampers with land records on property that you own,” residents will be notified of wrongdoing.

The establishment of a system like PropertyCheck also eases the stress which town clerks may face in attempting to verify whether fraudulent activity occurred against another person and their property. With such a system, “somebody could file a quitclaim deed on your property, and the town clerk really has no authority to verify that it's accurate,” according to Needleman.

While there have not been any recently recorded incidents of property or mortgage fraud in Essex, and such crimes are rare to occur, Riley said that concerns have still been voiced by residents.

To set up an account on PropertyCheck, Essex residents can visit recordhub.cottsystems.com or the town clerk’s web page at: www.essexct.gov/town-clerk.

According to Riley, “Cott System’s PropertyCheck works seamlessly in the background of the Essex records management software, automatically alerting an enrolled resident via their account if a document with a matching name is recorded. Property owners need to opt in by creating a RECORDhub account, creating alerts for their name, and choosing their preference of alerts—email or text message.”

“If you’re on RECORDhub, just fill in all the information, your email, and then you create an account. Once you’ve created that account, then you can search our land records. You can't print the documents, but you can view anything that we have on file,” said Riley. “Once you have that account set up, there is an additional sign-up.”

Riley added that the additional sign-up will enable residents to be automatically notified via email and/or text message when something has “come across the land records” with their name attached.

On the town clerk’s web page, residents will click on the PropertyCheck graphic for additional information with a link to “Sign Up Instructions” on how to set up an account on RECORDhub.