Protect your property from fraud with Recording Activity Notifications
According to the FBI, property and mortgage fraud is the fastest growing white-collar crime. Property Fraud is when someone illegally uses your property for financial gain. An instance of this entails someone recording a fraudulent deed and/or lien against your property in the Official Records of the Flagler County Clerk’s Office.
Although the alert system does not prevent the actual fraudulent activity from taking place, it does provide an early warning system for subscribers to become aware of what may have otherwise gone undetected. Subscribers armed with this notification system will be able to take prompt, appropriate action if they determine the activity to be fraudulent.
We want to ensure we provide the tools for our constituents to stay informed. Visit our Official Records System, Landmark, to sign up.
Frequently Asked Question
1. What is the Recording Activity Notifications service?
A free public service offered by the Flagler County Clerk’s Office that can help you detect documents recorded with your name in the Clerk’s Official Records that may be fraudulent.
2. What does this service monitor?
The name you choose to subscribe (business name, maiden name, married name, etc) is the only criteria being monitored. If you have a common name, you may get multiple alerts since it doesn’t distinguish one name from another. If you have multiple variations of your names, such as Chris and Christopher, you may want to subscribe to both, but again, you may get multiple alerts for others with your common name.
3. How does this alert work?
Once you sign up for the service you will receive an alert, from that day forward, of any document recorded with your name in the Official Records. The alert you receive by email will contain the document number and type, along with the recorded date and name. Using this information, you can easily search the Clerk’s Official Records to see if the alert pertains to you.
4. Can I sign up even if I don’t own property in Flagler County?
Yes, in the event a document is recorded with your name, you will receive an alert.
5. Does this subscription service alert me of documents being recorded in other counties?
No, this service only alerts its subscribers of documents being recorded in the Flagler County Official Records.
6. What if I have properties in other counties?
Many counties are looking into the possibility of providing this service to their citizens. You may contact the Clerk of the Court in the county of interest to see if they offer such service.
7. What will distinguish one John Doe from another?
There is nothing that will distinguish one name from another. Therefore, a person with a common name, like John Doe, will receive multiple alerts.
8. How are people committing fraud in this way?
Fraud can be committed in a number of ways by recording documents in public records. For example, someone can create a fraudulent document that will deed your home to them and then record that document in Official Records.
9. What documents do I need to gather before signing up for this service?
The only information you need to provide is your first and last name along with your email address. Nothing else is needed when signing up for the service.
10. How can I sign up for this service?
Anyone can sign up for the Recording Activity Notifications subscription service by visiting our Official Records System, Landmark.
11. I received an alert. How can I view the document?
The alert email will provide you with an Official Records (OR) book and page number to view your document in public records. The book and page number is the document number on the email alert.
12. I’m not receiving alerts, but I see documents recorded with a name I signed up for.
You may not have confirmed your subscription to our alerts. After signing up, you must confirm the alerts by clicking a link that was emailed to you during the signup process. You may also contact the Clerk’s Office’s Information Technology Department via the Contact Us page if you’d like them to look into this further.