I received two pieces of mail this week Welcoming me to my New Home, with coupons ...

[mr_lebowski]

Only, dig this ... my name ain't Cathy.

And I've owned this home for 5+ years.

The address was indeed mine.

And none of my nearby neighbors have changed lately either TTBOMK.

They're just like random stuff like BB&B and Ashley's, nothing official.

My credit report is fine, checked that first thing.

Thing is I've only seen this like 3 times since I've been here, now two in one week, addressed to the same Cathy person.

Thoughts?

[Croney]

1. When I googled who lives at my address, it showed

not only the people who do live here, but a stranger I'd never heard of. I think people lie about their address on paperwork somewhere, for something. Be vigilant.

[drray23]

2. Check that the title is still in your name.

There is this fraud going around where home titles are altered and they take ownership of the home. They then take out equity loans on it and of course default on it. You are left holding the debt with no house.

You can check that by going to the clerk of court and asking them to pull the title.

[magicarpet]

3. Check your deed at the county registry of deeds,....

.... when property changes hands retail purveyors of home goods and supplies find out and are then quick to notify the new home owner to do their shopping needs at retailer XYZ to make their new home comfy.

Double check to be sure your deed has not been inadvertently or by fraud been switched to "Cathy's" name.

See if Cathy's name is on the data base at the registry of deeds even if she is listed as an owner of another property. Get copies of what you find for your files.There might be a bad entry on the data base involving her and your property.

Make copies and keep in your property files.

Something screwy is going on. It would not hurt to check. Have you visited the city/town property tax collection office. It might be worth a visit to make sure you are properly listed as the rightful property owner.

That type of contact by mail from local retail home furnishing, supply, and material vendors indicates they think a change of ownership has recently happened and they want you as a new retail customer. Maybe go to those retail locations with the mailings and ask what triggered this mail being sent to this "Cathy". What list did the retailer see/subscribe to making them think "Cathy" was the new owner of that property in question.

Save all the "Cathy" mail from all local retailers in your files until this issue is resolved. Take a photo copy of the mailings you received. Return the original to your files. Then take the copies to the retailer to ask them what list the retailer subscribes to to notify them a new home owner just bought the property. (That is the list the retailer received notifying them "Cathy" is the new owner. [Find out WHAT SPECIFIC LIST of new home owners they received stating "Cathy" was the new owner. That list is what triggered the retailers to contact "Cathy" - at "her new" - but rightfully your current address. The outfit that supplied that new homeowner list to the retailer may have an error in their database indicating "Cathy" is the "new" owner, have them correct any errors in that database who ever this source may be.]

Good luck.

[mr_lebowski]

4. Well there's a search on my county recorders office website ...

I can see the basic stuff of my own deed, the bank and date and such.

Conversely, searching for Cathy's last name (it's unusual) shows no records at all in the county for any first name remotely like Cathy (they're names like Lakshmi, and they're from 2015) since the time I bought the place.

I'm just gonna chill for a minute and see if they keep coming ... and call the recorders office if they do.

[magicarpet]

5. More info about subject..... might be helpful.....

(begin snip)

Guide to Fighting Real Estate Deed Fraud


I. The Problem
As real estate owners and industry professionals, we understand the importance of regular maintenance, property insurance, and other routine tasks designed to preserve the value of what is, for many of us, our most significant asset -- our real estate. One thing that often escapes our attention, though, is a routine examination of the public records.

Recent stories in Texas, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Florida tell us about people from every walk of life who were shocked to discover that they no longer owned real estate they thought was theirs. Whether it is a family home, a business, a vacation property, or anything else, we expect our land to stay in our control until we decide to transfer it. On the surface, it is counter-intuitive to think that a person can simply record a deed and steal our property, but similar scams are occurring with increasing regularity across the country.

(end snip)

Much more at link below,

https://www.deeds.com/deed-fraud/

[mr_lebowski]

6. Much Obliged ...

[Leith]

7. Something similar happened to me, too

Except that I got a title to a motorcycle from the state of Indiana for somebody I never heard of at my address. I notified Indiana and the post office that the address was incorrect. I got some other kind of mail for that person, but I forget exactly what it was.

A couple months later, I got the same title paperwork again. I did a google search on the person. Oh, shit. He had been dishonorable discharged from the army - after being convicted by a military court for rape and in prison about 2 1/2 years.

I went to the local police station and registered my concern/complaint. They took down the particulars and gave me a receipt (for lack of a better word). I went back to the post office and put a hold on all mail for that person at my address and told them why.

I haven't had any more mail for that guy since.

Yes, every word is true, but I didn't post the guy's name so I feel justified telling the story. The whole thing freaked me out a lot.

[NNadir]

8. I have something worse than that.

My cell phone number used to belong to some woman named "Laurie."

Her drunken friends text me pictures of their parties, and text me to let me know they're coming over for drinks and whatever.

She apparently is a big time Republican asshole and every election I get texts from the assholes at the Republican party telling me to vote for the Nazi du jour.

I text back to those.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

9. It's easy for someone to change their address through the USPS.

It can be done online!

Maybe there was a spelling mistake of the address, or it's a nasty prank on someone?

It's not entirely related to your story, but your post reminded me of this mind-blowing (yet true) story about my sister, when she rented a house a few years ago.

She had three teenage sons living with her, and she started suspecting that one or more of them was smoking because the odor of cigarette smoke was suddenly in the house. She grilled them about it, and they all denied it. This was repeated many times over the course of several weeks, with her sons always strongly denying a smoking habit.

Then one day she received a letter in her mailbox, sent to a man at her address. The address included a notation like, "Side entrance", or something along those lines. (I can't remember that detail of the story.)

So my sister went to the side entrance of her house, which was actually a door to the basement at the bottom of cellar doors. To her surprise, the door to the basement was unlocked. The basement was unoccupied at that time, but it was obvious that someone had been living inside it. There was a mattress on the floor surrounded by empty beer cans. There was also a small table lamp with a used ashtray next to it.

It was particularly upsetting to her because the basement also had stairs leading up to her kitchen, and that kitchen door was only secured with a flimsy hook-and-eye.

She called the police about it, and then called her landlord.

Her landlord was furious! He first hung up the phone on my sister to tell the local police that it was a false alarm, and he had authorized the man to live in HIS basement (since he owned the property), despite never telling my sister about it. Then he called my sister to complain about her calling the cops.

Then he said the guy was a dishwasher at his restaurant (since he owned a restaurant too), and the guy had struggled to find a job and living space after being released from PRISON a couple months earlier!

My sister suggested that the man could live with him (the landlord), if he was so concerned about the man's accommodations, but she never agreed to such a situation when she signed her rental agreement!

Then the landlord complained about my sister being a "false Christian" and the like.

Long story made shorter, my sister eventually got her way (after threatening the landlord with legal action), and she moved to another place after her rental agreement was satisfied (living there a year).

Edit: I am certain her landlord was a Republican, despite how my sister didn't know his political affiliations.