Local Records Office Fake Bill for Real Estate Recording Services - Clear Scam to Target the Unwary Norwalk, California
About a month after closing on a house, I received a very formal-looking letter from the "Local Records Office" saying "please respond by [X] date," after which an "additional Fee of $10.00 will be required before processing," on top of the $89 fee. Naturally I initially assumed it was yet another minor expense associated with buying a house, but upon closer inspection, I wondered why the mailing address was in California when my new house was not.
Reading the fine print, although it never explicitly says so, this is a for-profit company offering something that your title company probably already did - get you a copy of the deed. Between the bar codes, the information that looks private (like the purchase price of your home and the address), and language used, it looks like an official document if you don't look at the fine print.
This is a useless, predatory service that obviously targets the unwary. Send hate mail to P.O. Box 1348, Norwalk, CA 90651.
3 Updates & Rebuttals
Jim
Indiana,USA
Local Records Office "offer"
#4Consumer Comment
Tue, January 29, 2013
I received the same letter today, 01/28/13. I notice the only differences between mine and the above is the phone number and city, state of origin
The sender admits on the first page that...."this offer serves as a solicitation of services and is not to be interpreted as a bill due."
The "service" offered is to obtain a copy of your deed, which you can do yourself at your county recorder's office.
It's shredder fodder.
Sapphiretyger
Tucson,Arizona,
U.S.A.
Me too
#4Consumer Comment
Sat, December 08, 2012
Same company, but I was stupid enough to fall for it. This is so wrong!
Anonymous
Wisconsin,United States of America
Happening in Wisconsin also
#4Consumer Comment
Thu, September 20, 2012
I just saw on the local news that the same scammers, "Local Records Office" is pulling the same scam in Wisconsin, also. It sounds like this could be a nation-wide scam. I say blow your nose into their letter and mail it back to them. (Without a check, of course.)