Table of Contents

Key Points

homes can be partially or fully self sustainable on utilities etc
clean water sources
sustainable waste management practices
land to grow food, create oxygen
excellent soil
excellent forest
excellent solar, wind energy sources
well designed green houses for longer growing seasons

References

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https://www.apartmentadvisor.com/rent-report/ma

Key Concepts

Property Title Protection

Title Fraud Protection Steps

Here are some ways to prevent title theft in Florida:

Get title insurance
When buying a house or refinancing, you can purchase title insurance through the American Land Title Association (ALTA). This policy can protect you from forgery, impersonation, and liens or claims filed against the property while you own it.
Monitor your bills
Thieves may change the address on bills to hide their crime and gain more time to profit from the property. Pay close attention to mortgage, tax, and water bills. If you stop receiving certain bills or receive unfamiliar mortgage paperwork, it could be a sign of title tampering.
Protect your personal information
Scammers can't create forms to fraudulently transfer the title out of your name if they don't have your full name, Social Security number, or other identifying details.
Close unauthorized accounts
If you discover that a thief has opened new accounts using your home title, contact the lenders to notify them of the fraud and have the accounts closed. This includes your mortgage lender and title insurance company.
File a quiet title action
This type of lawsuit can establish or settle a deed and prove that the title is yours

Deed Fraud Protection Steps

You don’t need to pay a company to safeguard your home title.

What is Deed Fraud?

Deed fraud is a type of identity theft. A criminal identifies a potential home to target — often a second home, rental, vacation home or vacant house — and then forges the true owner’s signature on the deed as they “sell” it to themselves or a third party such as a trust.

When they register the sale at the county recorder’s office, they’ll use personal information gleaned from the internet or elsewhere to assume your identity or claim to represent you. They will employ fraudulent identification, a counterfeit notary signature, or even work with an unethical registered notary to pull off the scam. After taking ownership of the property, they’re free to do whatever they want — even sell it to a legitimate buyer.

Steps to prevent Deed Fraud

Here are four steps you can take to prevent deed fraud:

Pay attention to incoming bills. Keep a close eye out for mortgage, tax and water bills. Sometimes, thieves change the address on bills to hide their crime, giving them more time to profit from the property.
Check the status of your property deed. Anyone can check local registries or the county recorder’s office for land records and property deeds online in the United States. Try to check your deed's status regularly to ensure no one is trying to take over your ownership rights. Or better yet, if possible, set up notifications at the registry to alert you to any changes
Monitor your credit reports for signs of identity theft. Most people only look at their credit reports when they’re applying for a mortgage or loan. However, if you want to avoid becoming the victim of deed fraud, you should be more vigilant. The three major credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — offer a free credit report to consumers each week at AnnualCreditReport.com.
Check if you have a title insurance policy or buy one when refinancing. When you buy a house or refinance, you can purchase enhanced title insurance through the American Land Title Association (ALTA). Their Homeowner's Policy ensures against impersonation or forgery.

Warning signs of Deed Theft

Look for these warning signs:

You stop receiving your water bill or property tax assessment or bill.
Utility bills on a vacant property rise suddenly, or you find people living there.
You stop receiving your tenants’ rent payments and learn that they’ve been making the payments to another person and location.
You receive payment books or other information from a lender with whom you haven’t done business.
You find yourself in default on a loan or notified of foreclosure proceedings.

Deed Scams

https://www.mass.gov/news/homeowners-deed-scam

Title Protection Services - are they worth it?

the threat of home title theft, when a fraudster attempts to transfer ownership of a home by forging a deed in the owner’s name. You may have even seen ads touting products that will protect you from thieves stealing your home out from under you — scary spots warning about identity theft and maybe even featuring celebrities.

the risk of rental scams and the need to be cautious when posting or responding to rental property ads and real estate online.

never seen a single instance of home title theft in Massachusetts.

Real risk is wire fraud during a real estate close

“The real threat is wire fraud, which is super-prevalent,” McCarthy said. That’s when a scammer poses as a real estate agent, title company, or closing attorney and attempts to divert the closing costs of a home buyer to a fraudulent account, usually via an e-mail or phone call.

The good news: Even if you are the victim of home title theft, you still legally own your house. The bad news: You’ll probably have to deal with a mess to clean up — much like identity theft — and that will probably involve time, stress, and attorney’s fees.

free title registry notification for some deeds offices

Many registry of deeds offices in Massachusetts offer a free Consumer Notification Service, which notifies homeowners by e-mail whenever a new document is recorded that affects their property. Owners can register up to three residential properties, but commercial properties are not eligible. To see whether your county offers the free notification service, contact your local registry. A list is available at Masslandrecords.com.

https://www.tauntondeeds.com/

Bristol County Deed Registry Search Page

https://search.tauntondeeds.com/Searches/RecordedLand/RecordedLandInquiry.aspx

Title Fraud Risks

Homesteading can protect home equity from creditors up to a limit

https://www.sec.state.ma.us/divisions/registry-of-deeds/homestead-faq.htm

What is the reason for homestead?

A homesteadprotects some of the equity in your home. If your home is worth more money than you owe on it, you have equity. For example, if your home is worth $350,000 and you owe $300,000, you have $50,000 in equity. A homestead can protect the $50,000.

What is a Declaration of Homestead/Homestead protection?
An estate of homestead is a type of protection for a person’s principal residence. Even if you don’t declare a homestead exemption with the Registry of Deeds, you’ll still benefit from an automatic homestead protection of one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars ($125,000).

While this automatic protection may be sufficient to protect a deposit made upon your estate, it’s not likely enough coverage to protect the full value of your home. To protect the value of your property up to five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) per residence, per family, you must file a document called a “Declaration of Homestead”. You can file this form at the Registry of Deeds in the county or district where your property is located, referencing the title/deed to the property.

My home is held in trust, am I entitled to a Homestead protection?
Yes, if you hold a beneficial interest in the trust. You are considered an “owner” and eligible for an estate of homestead in that case. When a home is owned in trust, only the trustee can declare a homestead on behalf of the trust’s beneficiaries. The trust declaration and or trustee certificates may also need to be recorded at the Registry of Deeds.

File homestead declaration at the local registry of deeds