"Certified" Deed Scam
A few months ago, I recorded a deed by which my clients transferred their residence into their living trusts. My clients were then contacted by a company that said my clients should purchase a certified copy of the deed for their property -- from the company, natch -- for a fee of $150. I told my clients not to bother.
This month's IICLE Flash Points newsletter on Real Estate Law (written by Steven B. Bashaw) says that my clients' experience was not an isolated incident:
[T]he Recorder of Deeds of Cook County, Eugene Moore, is alerting lawyers to scams that may impact their real estate clients. The first scam involves letters sent to unwary senior citizens suggesting that something may be wrong with the title to their home and they had better investigate. The method suggested to do this is to order a “certified” copy of the deed to their property at a cost of $150.00. Of course, the same document can be viewed on-line without cost (www.ccrd.info) and a hard copy obtained for less than $1.00.
Bookmark: 
