Is Home Title Lock Legitimate?

I listen to satellite radio a lot, and I frequently hear commercials for Home Title Lock. (hometitlelock.com).

This is what Home Title Lock says on their website:

 Mortgage fraud is the fastest growing white collar crime in AmericaTitle fraud is when a thief uses a false identity and transfers your home's title to his name. He can take out a loan and stick you with the payments, he can change the title so he inherits your home and even have you evicted from your own home.
Title Insurance Doesn't Protect You and Neither Does Your Bank or Identity Theft Protection. HOME TITLE LOCK DOES

I have been a consumer lawyer for almost 30 years. During a lot of those years, I did 3500 intakes per year from everyday people with a huge variety of legal problems, and in that time I NEVER encountered a single complaint of home title fraud BY A STRANGER.  

I saw cases of home title fraud, but then involved relatives or "we buy homes" scams (usually involving sale/leasebacks), I also saw many cases of mortgage fraud by mortgage brokers in the bad old days prior to mortgage meltdown in 2008: 

I would like to see the data that Home Title Lock relies on to say that mortgage fraud is the fastest growing white collar crime in America. Also "Title fraud" and "Mortgage fraud" are not the same thing.  There are a whole lot of types of mortgage fraud, and as far ask I can tell, most types went into sharp decline after 2008 when lenders got more picky about their mortgages - and regulators enforced more due dilligence.  Title fraud, in my experience is very rare and usually involves confidence scams by no-money down real estate types, Usually the homeowner actually does sign title documents but under false pretenses.  

I don't really do consumer mrotgage cases anymore, but I am in contact with fellow consumer attorneys that do. Most of their time is spent on cases involving improper mortgage servicing (for example: failure to credit payments properly) and improper fees.

Here's why I think the type of deed fraud Home Title Lock scares people about is exceedingly rare: It takes multiple stages of fraud to pull off, and there are multiple chances of getting caught each time.  Let's look at the initial fraudulent deed.  The owner's signature has to be forged, and there has to be a fraudulent notarization.  A pattern of fraudulent transactions involving a single registered notary would be detectable by a  state notarization board and maybe a title insurance company.  The deed has to be transferred to a transferee who is either in on the scam or is a "straw buyer".  There are lots of scams involving "straw buyers" and they are relatively easy to track.  These tra"innsactions almost certainly would have to focus on properties where the deed owner is not in possession. Why, when the "innocent" third party buyer paying money to the scammer tries to take possesion, they will see the real owner. The real owner can defend against the "innocent" purchaser. In short, if your deed is forged, you have the chance to prove that in an action against the person who pays the scammer.  The person who pays the scammer, may be able to sue the title insurance company that closes the sale.  So I just told you that t the smart scammer will target properties that are not owner-occupied. - BUT THAT'S NOT WHOM HOME TITLE LOCK IS TARGETING. This company is targeting ordinary homeowners who live in their homes.  Now at the closing with the innocent purchaser putting up money, the only way the scammer gets paid, the scammer has to present id that is suitable for notarization.  You have to generate a fake identity for every deal you close. That's a lot of work.

In my opinion, it is not a good investment to pay Mortgage Title Lock $9.95/month to protect your home title. I think they are selling fear to gullible (often elderly) targets.  I don't have any legal action against this company, nor am I planning any.  Hopefully, they won't be into most of their customers more than about $100 before the customers realize that maybe there are better ways to spend money.

So to answer the question I posed in the title, is Home Title Lock legitimate?  Well, I don't have any reason to doubt that they monitor public records, so to that end they probably are legitimate. On the other hand, I have my doubts about the scope of the problem that they claim to be guarding against. That's why I wouldn't give the company any of my money.  

  

Mid 2018 - Trends in Nextgear Dealer Litigation

Here are my impressions in what I've seen in recent cases filed by Nextgear Capital, Inc. against dealers floorplanned with Nextgear.  The overall rate of filing seems about the same as last year, on an annualized rate of about a thousand cases a year. It varies from week to week. It seems like the average size of the debt claimed that I'm seeing is smaller, in some cases much smaller, even under $10,000. It also seems that Nextgear is not waiting as long before an account goes into default before filing suit, sometimes 2-3 months.  As i wrote in a previous post, it seems like Nextgear is suing more wholesale dealers, although because of a small sample size that might actually not be true.

From the point of view of our defense, the thing that I have noticed is Nextgear is a bit more aggressive in filing for summary judgment in cases where an answer has been filed.  In tew cases we have seen motions for summary judgment filed approximately 6 months after we filed an answer. Other cases have gone as long or longer with no action.  This is not completely surprising. Nextgear can't keep an unlimited number of open cases on the docket.  What I think a potential Nextgear defendant should take from this is that if you have an attorney answer your case on your behalf, you should have a "Plan B" ready by six months after your answer is filed. That plan could be a plan to settle the case, a plan to litigate the case actively, a plan to file bankruptcy, or something else.  It's not uncommon for you to not have a plan immediately when you are sued, and an answer will buy you time, but you need to dust yourself off and look at all alternatives after the answer is filed.

Finally, be on the look-out for a new website, dealerfloorplandefense.com. I recently reserved this domain. Keith Hagan and I intend to use it as the main website for the information that we collect that is relevant to legal actions by floorplan lenders. We hope that if you are sued by a floorplan lender, dealerfloorplancefense.com will be your first stop on the web for information. 

If you would like to talk to an attorney who is experienced at dealer floorplan defense - with no obligation, call me at 317-662-4529.

Nextgear vs the Wholesalers

I have been receiving a rash of complaints lately from Wholesale auto and truck sellers who floorplanned with Nextgear. It seems the Nextgear model of requiring periodic inventory checks at the dealer's place of business doesn't mesh with typical wholesaling practice where vehicles are physically located in warehouses or out on consignment.  This has the potential to cause breaches of contract (or claimed breaches of contract)  when the floorplanning account is up-to-date. 

If you are a wholesale dealer financing with Nextgear, I suggest that you read the whole boring Nextgear contract and make sure you are in compliance.  If you aren't, and practically can't be, I suggest you shop for alternate financing, and proactively come up with a plan that will satisfy nextgear, and put it in writing. 

By the way, consignment selling to used car dealers is an unavoidably risky business.  I personally question whether it is compatible with a floorplanned inventory in any case.  Who knows, maybe Nextgear sees things the same way.  That might be true, but the fact is that Nextgear has financed numerous wholesalers. Complaining that they are wholesalers now seems questionable to me. 

We have defended or are defending over 50 dealers and guarantors sued by Nextgear, in suits rainging from around $10,000 to over $2 million.  If you are sued by Nextgear in Indiana, call us at 317-662-4529.