PHILADELPHIA – The City of Philadelphia Records Department has made its free Deed Fraud Guard service available to notaries. This continues the department’s efforts to fight deed fraud and protect families’ generational wealth.

Since 2019, homeowners have been able to sign up for Fraud Guard, the City’s free email alert service. This service sends the subscriber an email notification if their name appears in any document, such as a deed or mortgage, recorded with the Records Department. The subscriber can then view the document online to determine if it may be fraudulent.

“With this new tool, we have expanded the universe of people who can protect themselves against deed fraud,” said James P. Leonard, Commissioner of Records for the City of Philadelphia. “Now not just homeowners, but notaries too, can take advantage of this service.”

With the new Fraud Guard upgrade, notaries can subscribe and receive email alerts if their names appear as a notary to a document recorded in Philadelphia. Every document recorded in Pennsylvania must be notarized by a licensed notary public. In cases of deed fraud, it is common for a thief to forge the signature and official stamp of a licensed notary. That means innocent notaries can be victims, too.

This tool empowers notaries to identify deed fraud when they are a victim. The Records Department also has issued a new regulation that permits notaries to record an affidavit at no cost against the stolen property putting the world on notice that the last deed recorded contained a fraudulent notarization.

If you believe you are a victim of deed fraud, immediately contact the Records Department at (215) 686-2290 or send an email to records.info@phila.gov.