A local vacant landowner has been the victim of a recent property scam.
The property, an 8-acre vacant parcel located on Little Traverse Lake and M-22, was listed by Serbin Real Estate in Glen Arbor.
After finding out from the property manager the local land owner who requested to remain anonymous because of being targeted made the appropriate phone calls.
“I was surprised to find out the property was for sale,” the property owner said. “(Serbin) immediately agreed to take the sign down and was very apologetic. we were fortunate to catch it early enough.”
According to Serbin, a person imitating the local vacant land owner electronically signed legal documents to have the ability to sell the property even though he is not the legal owner.
When Serbin was tipped off by unusual behavior by this person through various short phone calls, voice mails, emails, he took the property off of listing platforms July 18. The property owner immediately contacted the Leelanau County Sheriff’s department but there were no quick answers of whether this was a civil offense or not.
No money was exchanged during the interactions.
Initially, there wasn’t a criminal complaint made to the sheriff ’s office because the sheriff’s office weren’t sure if it was a crime they would be able to tackle.
“Electronically signing listing documents to sell property for property that you don’t own is fraud,” Serbin said.
After requesting comment from both Sheriff Mike Borkovich and Prosecutor Joe Hubbell, they did say this is something to look into.
“I’ll be interested in reviewing this case if it is turned over to law enforcement and landed on my desk,” Hubbell said. “There are a number of crimes that can be investigated and need to be examined.”
Serbin said this is a lesson for him and the 1,100 agents in northwest Michigan “to keep their heads and know who they are dealing with. “Most people I work with are people that I know or referrals.”
Serbin expressed wanting to go after the apparent gentleman for the scam attempt and wasting him and his client’s time.
“We have to catch this (scammer),” he said.
Jennifer Grant, county Register of Deeds, said Realtor’s are the first line of defense for property fraud of this type.
“We have to make sure neighbors are watching out for each other and use tools in our toolbox to defeat these predators,” Grant said.
In June, Grant said at least one person tried to contact a local Realtor to fraudulently sell land they don’t own in Northport.
Last year, the register of deeds office received several complaints about similar scams targeting vacant lots in Leelanau County.
Grant added that she has yet to see a scam like this happen to a property with a home on it.
“Use a local Realtor,” she said.
The Register of Deeds has a fraud alert program for land owners to register with name and address to promptly respond to fraudster attempts.
