That means potential tenants should ensure the landlord actually owns the property, while landlords should check references and request documents like credit scores to verify potential tenants, Moranis said. People on both sides of a real-estate transaction should make sure they're comfortable with the identity of the person on the other side of the deal, said Stephen Moranis, past president of the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board. 2nd Toronto home listed for sale without homeowner's knowledge Notify the post office, financial institutions and other service providers of your new address when you move.Limit mail theft by regularly retrieving mail.Shred documents containing personal information before placing them in the garbage.Regularly check credit card reports, bank and credit card statements and report anything irregular.Be wary of who you share personal information with.The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre offers the following tips for preventing identity theft: Government-issued identity documents, including driver's licences, passports, birth certificates, social insurance number (SIN) cards and citizenship cards, can all be used to apply for mortgages or to take steps to buy or sell a home. Stealing a person's identity is often the first step in title fraud. Morris Cooper, a civil litigation lawyer in Toronto who successfully argued a landmark case in 2006 that shifted the responsibility for title fraud from victims to lending institutions, said seniors and people who rent out their homes to tenants can be at a high risk of title fraud.īut homeowners can take steps to protect themselves. 'It can take considerable time, money and effort to deal with having to restore your title and/or remove any fraudulently registered mortgages,' FCT writes on its website. Victims of title fraud lose the right to mortgage their home, can no longer leverage the equity and can't sell the property until they re-establish their title rights through the courts, according to FCT.

It can take considerable time, money and effort to deal with having to restore your title and/or remove any fraudulently registered mortgages. Homeowners often don't learn about what's happened until they receive notice of missed payments or they try to sell, title insurance company First Canadian Title (FCT) says on its website. Once fraudsters have their hands on a property's title, they can re-mortgage it, sell it to an unsuspecting buyer, or extract value from it in some other way and make away with the proceeds. Title fraud takes place when a person uses fake identification or forged documents to steal the identity of a homeowner and take away their 'title,' or legal ownership of a property. Toronto police seek public's help after house sold without owners' consent.

Home title lock