Home title theft is on the rise. This is where criminals steal the title or deed of your home and use it for their personal financial gain.

What basically happens is that criminals forge a fake deed for your home, changing your home ownership from you to them. They are then able to take out loans using your house as collateral or they could even try to sell your home out from under you!

To help combat this worrying trend, The Yavapai County Recorder's Office has created a free alert service, known as Eagle Fraud Guard, for citizens concerned about potential deception through recordings.

Here's how it works:

Once you have signed up for the Eagle Fraud Guard service, you will receive a notification each time a document is recorded with the name(s) you want to monitor. Please be aware that the Eagle Fraud Guard process does not prevent the recording of fraudulent documents. When you receive the notification, you will need to review the document via the link provided and determine if it is you or someone else with a similar name and if the legal description is your property. If you believe the document is fraudulent, you will need to seek legal advice as to how to address the fraudulent item.

Information regarding Eagle Fraud Guard is available at https://yavapaiaz.gov/Portals/28/FraudGuard.pdf and sign up can be completed at https://yavapaicountyaz-recorder.tylerhost.net/recorder/eagleweb/fraudGuardSignup.jsp.

Further information is also available by contacting the Recorder's Office at 928-771-3244.