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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
01/29/2020
County Clerk Offers Property Alert Service to Protect Against Fraud
TRENTON - Mercer County Clerk Paula Sollami Covello reminds residents to register for the County Clerk's Property Alert Service to provide property owners with important alerts concerning their properties.
The Property Alert Service is completely free and alerts Mercer County property owners when a document affecting a specific property is recorded by the Mercer County Clerk’s Office. Residents can sign up for the alert system by going to http://propertyalert.mercercounty.org/PropertyAlert and registering.
“It’s as simple as registering your name or business name and your email address and you will be automatically notified if a document is recorded with your name,” said Mercer County Clerk Paula Sollami Covello.
It should be noted that the Property Alert Service does not prevent fraudulent activity from occurring; it helps monitor activity and transactions on properties. Anyone who suspects fraudulent activity should contact authorities. Additionally, the County Clerk's Office offers a hotline number for residents to call if they feel they have been victimized by property fraud. That number is 609-989-6470.
The Property Alert Service, which was implemented in 2016, has been praised by many officials in Mercer County, including Mercer County Executive Brian M. Hughes, who called it an “important service that can be accessed by our homeowners," and Trenton Mayor W. Reed Gusciora, who stated, "This is an added security measure for homeowners to ensure title to their property remains unencumbered. An unscrupulous person who rents out another's property to a third-party can cause legal headaches and costly repairs to the actual owner."
Property is one of the most valuable assets people can own. Property fraud can be committed by anyone attempting to convince lenders, solicitors or other officials that they own property when in reality they do not. Typically, this fraud is committed by forging documents or using identity theft to obtain them.
To further address these issues, County Clerk Sollami Covello, along with Mayor Gusciora and Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo Onofri and others, are members of a task force to address squatting on local properties and other types of property fraud. The task force works to identify those who would victimize homeowners through various schemes. For example, in Trenton and other municipalities across Mercer County, fraudsters have been using vacant bank-owned and privately owned residential properties to mislead tenants, often posing as the property owner or as an agent to extract cash from them. They have been known to move into vacant or bank-owned properties for free housing.
The Fraudulent Housing Occupancy Task Force is working with local, county and state officials to protect residents from this fraud. They want the public to know that impersonating property owners and squatting in a vacant property are illegal activities that will be investigated and prosecuted.
Again, if you are a victim of property fraud or suspect possible squatting activity, you can call 609-989-6470, or your contact your local law-enforcement authorities. The Property Alert System will also assist you by notifying you if someone is taking unauthorized action on your property.
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Mercer County Clerk
Paula Sollami Covello
209 South Broad St., PO Box 8068
Trenton, NJ 08650-0068 | (609) 989-6465
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