It’s no surprise there are many different types of scams generated every day and many people fall victim to these scams when they don’t know how to detect them.
Rabun County Clerk of Superior Court is warning residents that currently a scam is going around where a property owner will be notified in the mail from a company alleging tit possess the only copy of that person’s property deed and money needs to be paid in order to receive it. Some of the letters might even have a bogus check attached.
Clerk of Superior Court Holly Henry-Perry said these are scams and that deeds are housed at the Superior Court Clerk’s office and can always be accessed there.
Citizens can stay notified about cases of possible fraud activity related to real estate; lien; plat; and transfer tax declarations through the statewide Filing Activity Notification System (FANS), a part of the Georgia Superior Court Clerks’ Cooperative Authority.
Henry-Perry said it is a free service for citizens that can be accessed by visiting https://fans.gsccca.org/
“FANS is designed to offer individuals the ability to receive a notification when certain real estate and personal property records are filed with, indexed, and data is transmitted by Clerks of Superior Court throughout the state of Georgia,” according to the organization’s website.
Henry-Perry explained users should fill out as much information as possible because the program will notify if someone files any information with the same name that was registered.
“Individuals may opt-in to this voluntary system designed to send an electronic notification of the filing and of a document in select official county records when document index data entered and transmitted to the Georgia Superior Court Clerks’ Cooperative Authority by the clerk matches the notification criteria you set,” according to the website.
Henry-Perry said that although the system does not prevent the fraud from happening, it is beneficial to be alerted when it does happen. She said if citizens ever have any questions about documentation and letters they receive in the mail, they are welcome to call the Rabun County Clerk of Court at 706-782-3615 or stop by the office located at 25 Courthouse Square Suite 105 with questions.