DeedWatch guides

Your alert fired. Here is what to do — and in what order.

Updated October 2026 · DeedWatch research team

An alert from your county means exactly one thing: a document was recorded under a name you are watching. Most alerts turn out to be innocent — a legitimate refinance you forgot about, a neighbor with your exact name, a release of an old mortgage. Some are the first sign of deed fraud. This page gives you the overview: the calm, correct first moves. (The full 72-hour playbook — scripts, sequencing, and the fraud-affidavit process — is a core module of the Setup Kit. This overview is general information, not legal advice.)

Step 1 — Pull the actual document

Do not react to the alert alone; react to the document. Your alert will include a document or instrument number and usually a link. Open the county's online records search (or use the link in the alert) and read the document itself: what type is it (deed, mortgage, lien, release), who are the parties, what property does it describe, and when was it signed and notarized? Screenshot or download it, and write down the instrument number, book/page if shown, and the recording date. Everything after this step depends on what that document actually says.

Step 2 — Decide which of the three cases you're in

• It's yours and it's legitimate. A refinance, a satisfaction of mortgage, an estate document you signed. File the alert away — this is the system working as intended, and it will do this every time you record something.
• It's someone else with your name. The document names your name but describes a property that is not yours, with parties you don't know, in a transaction that has nothing to do with you. This is the name-matching noise every clerk warns about — annoying, common with common names, and harmless to you. Note it and move on.
• It's your property and you didn't sign it. Your address or parcel, your name as grantor, a signature that is not yours, a notary you never met. This is the emergency the alert exists for. Move to Step 3 today.

Step 3 — If it's fraud: the first calls, in order

1. The recorder or clerk's office. Call the office where the document was recorded. Tell them you believe a fraudulent document was recorded against your property and give the instrument number. Many offices have a fraud unit or a process for flagging the record and starting an affidavit of forgery or fraudulent recording. They will also tell you the local procedure — it varies by state, which is why they are the first call.
2. Local law enforcement. File a police report. Deed fraud is a crime — in Arizona it is now a Class 5 felony — and the report becomes the foundation document for lenders, insurers, and court filings afterward.
3. Your lender and your title insurer. If you have a mortgage, notify the lender's fraud department. And find your owner's title insurance policy from when you bought the home: title insurers defend covered title challenges, and a fraudulent deed is precisely a title challenge. (We explain what owner's policies do and don't cover in title insurance vs. monitoring.)
4. The credit bureaus. A deed thief usually has your identity data too. Place a free freeze with Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, and pull your free reports at AnnualCreditReport.com to look for loans you never opened.

Step 4 — Know the lawyer line

A fraudulent deed is legally void — a forgery conveys nothing. But “void” does not erase the public record: the document sits there, clouding your title, until it is removed, and removal usually takes a court order (a quiet-title action) obtained at the owner's expense. That is the Illinois Attorney General's own summary of how this works, and it is why the honest rule is this: the moment a fraudulent transfer document is confirmed, stop doing it yourself. The recorder, the police, and the notices above are day-one moves. Everything about removing the recording and defending the title belongs to a real-estate attorney in your state. If cost is the barrier, ask the attorney about fee recovery, ask your title insurer about defense coverage first, and ask your state bar's lawyer-referral service about consultations — but do not let the forged document age while you deliberate.

Not enrolled yet? The playbook only helps if the alert exists. Check your county and sign up for the free service first.