Fixing Title Fraud in Arizona

By Drew Williamson

© 2026 Williamson News Service LLC

Several bills have been submitted in the Arizona House and Senate to help strengthen the fight against title fraud in Arizona.

Arizona real estate owners, especially those in cities and towns, are at risk to lose their homes and businesses through title fraud, according to an April 2025 decision by the Arizona Supreme Court.

State and county officials and members of the public have been working together through the summer to mend this hole in the legal net protecting Arizona real estate owners, said Maricopa County Assessor Eddie Cook. Two of the newly introduced bills (SB1479 and HB2952) were based on the group’s efforts, Cook said. The main sponsors for the identical bills are Sen. Frank Carroll (R-District 28 and Majority Whip) and Rep. Selina Bliss (R-District 1).

New requirements of the proposed legislation include:

·         A valid form of photo identification will be presented when seeking to record a document (with some exceptions for escrow officers, title insurance agents, bank or credit union representatives, licensed Arizona attorneys, or federal officials). For privacy reasons, the recorder may not keep a copy of the ID but will record certain information from it.

·         By Jan. 1, 2027, the assessor will provide a free electronic notification system to property owners regarding changes of ownership or mailing address. The system would be voluntary and provided by e-mail, text message or other similar means.

·         An affidavit of “legal value” will be required to accompany each deed to be recorded. The buyer and seller (or their real estate agents) will both need to sign the affidavit. The affidavits will include numerous details about the transaction, such as names, mailing addresses, telephone numbers, location and parcel number, date of sale, total consideration received, and means of sale (retail sale or foreclosure).

·         The county recorder will refuse to record any deed that does not have a completed affidavit attached.

·         Recording a forged deed will be elevated to a Class 4 felony with possible jail time. Current fines would be retained and an additional $1,000 fine would be added if the fraudster doesn’t clear the false title within 20 days.

·         Recorded deeds that are forged will be invalid.

·         When notarizing a document to be recorded, the signers must be present in person and affix their thumbprints.

A third bill (HB 2842) would allow property owners to sign up for an alert system when escrow is opened on the property, said Arizona Rep. Patty Contreras (D-District 12). The notification would come a little earlier in the process to give property owners a little more time to take action, she said.

As these bills work their way through the legislative process, it would be good to keep in mind the current state of the fight against title fraud Arizona.

 Cook said that real estate owners need to regularly monitor the status of their property titles. Deed fraud typically occurs as the result of divorce, death, or declining mental capacity due to old age. Vacant properties are frequently targeted. Title fraud often involves family members and vulnerable adults.

The recording of a fraudulent title or deed can result in the loss of an owner’s home or business to the fraudster under certain circumstances, according to the Arizona Supreme Court in Estate of Dominguez v Dominguez. The court recommended that the law be changed.

Typically, an agreement that begins through an illegal act is unenforceable from the start (void ab initio). However, due to the wording of the current law (ARS 12-1524), the Arizona Supreme Court affirmed recent lower court rulings that can leave property owners in Arizona cities or towns at risk. The proposed legislation would repeal that statute.

In Arizona, if a person records a falsified title to another’s residential or commercial lot in an Arizona city or town and pays the taxes for 5 years or more, they can legally claim ownership of the lot. If the victim does not discover the forgery and contest the fraud within the 5-year limit, the victim can lose ownership of their property to the forger. This quirk in the law affects commercial properties as well as homes.

In Arizona, the penalty for knowingly recording a false deed does not involve possible jail time. The fine for knowingly recording a fraudulent title is $5000 or up to three times the actual damages, whichever is greater. Wronged property owners can file special actions in court to have the title cleared. Courts can award attorney fees and other costs as well.

In 2025, the Arizona Legislature did approve changing the law. The bill (SB1310) was vetoed by Gov. Katie Hobbs. Hobbs requested that the state legislature pass a more comprehensive review and revision of the statutes, according to the letter of explanation accompanying the veto. The proposed legislation seems more comprehensive.

In the veto letter, Hobbs did note that she had signed a bill in 2023 that enabled Arizona counties to offer an electronic “early warning” system that notifies a property owner when someone has recorded a document involving their title. The hope is that the victim can act if needed before it is too late.

The “Maricopa Title Alert” program is only a partial solution, Cook said.  Less than 100,000 of 1.4 million real estate owners in Maricopa County have signed up for the program, which sends a property owner an email when someone records a document that affects them.

The Maricopa Title Alert program is administered by the county recorder’s office. Links to the free service can be accessed at the assessor’s or recorder’s homepages. Nearly all of Arizona’s 15 counties offer a similar service.

The Dominguez case was a civil suit. The courts found that the recorded title was “valid on its face” even though the courts found that a signature on the title had been forged. The 5-year limitation on challenging the recording had passed and the defendant had paid the taxes on the property as required.

“A forged deed can be a recorded deed,” said attorney Benjamin Gottlieb, a real estate law attorney in Phoenix. He thought the supreme court's decision in Dominguez was "bizarre" when he first heard about it. But after spending time reviewing the decision, it made sense based on how the statutes were written.

Attorney Jesi L. Wolnik focuses on helping Arizona property owners defend against title fraud. She said deed fraud increased during the pandemic when people got used to doing things electronically rather than in person. Despite innovations like the Maricopa Title Alert, title fraud has remained steady. Fraudsters are just getting more “creative” in their approach, Wolnik said.

Title fraud can be charged as a felony under the state's forgery statute. More people don't file criminal complaints because forgery is difficult to prove, Wolnik said. The proposed statutes make recording a false document a felony.

She is supportive of the changes put forward by the work group. Wolnik said that property owners should avoid using quit claim deeds unless advised by their attorney. A quit claim deed is a “do-it-yourself” form for transferring real estate. Fraud aside, a significant part of her practice involves trying to resolve title problems resulting from property owners trying to do it themselves using quit claim deeds. Many of the fraudulent scenarios that she described involve the use of quit claim deeds and bankruptcy filings manipulated by fraudsters who target inexperienced property owners and those who can’t afford an attorney.

A typical title fraud scenario involves the children or caregivers of elderly property owners. The fraudsters forge a false title and claim ownership without the victim realizing it. In one case she handled, two adult children forged the title while their widower father was thought to be dying in the hospital. He survived and was disappointed that his home had been taken without his permission. Wolnik was able to restore the title to the father but he did end up with a $50,000 mortgage the children had borrowed against the home in the meantime. Addressing title fraud is time sensitive because selling the home or mortgaging it to create quick cash is the main goal of the fraudsters who take the money and run, Wolnik said.

Some scenarios take title fraud down to a whole new circle of perdition.

A recent racketeering lawsuit involving title fraud, filed by Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, names 15 individuals and multiple businesses. More than 100 properties may have been affected. The lawsuit is in early stages with oral arguments set for May in Maricopa County Superior Court before Judge Scott Blaney.

Of great concern is that the 81-page complaint identifies several attorneys and two title companies in Arizona. Attorneys and title companies are generally expected to act as preventers of fraud in the real estate business.

In fact, Wolnik recommends consulting an attorney whenever the suspicion of title fraud pops up. She also recommends using a title company that has the expertise to research a title to make sure it is free of problems. Title companies also can issue title insurance that provides some financial protection for property owners.

Don Carroll is a criminal investigator who works on major title fraud cases for the Arizona Attorney General’s office. He sees room for improvement in the laws and processes to fight title fraud.

“We’ve been doing as much as we can,” Carroll said. “The problem is the way it is set up. It’ just way too easy to do it (commit title fraud).”

He agreed with the changes contemplated by the work group. He also supports the bill sponsored by Contreras.

Arizona is a “rush to record” state where fraud prevention sometimes takes a back seat to customer service. Another concern about making changes is the extra funding that will be needed to hire more people, Carroll said.

“The crux of the problem is that we can’t stop the recording of the document because of the way it is set up. We can stop the sale,” Carroll said.

Greater care needs to be taken in the use of notary publics, both Carroll and Wolnik said. The current system works better when the escrow companies send out their own notaries to personally meet with the participants in a transaction. “Out-of-state notarized documents are completely useless,” Carroll said.

Fraudsters forge notary statements among other documents. Carroll is concerned about schemes originating from other countries, such as Nigeria. Typically, the international scammers look for vacant properties with no liens where the owners are out of state. Real estate agents and escrow companies have gotten better at spotting these types of frauds, Carroll said.

Drew Williamson is a freelance writer in Arizona. His professional expertise includes newspaper reporting and editing, advertising sales and management, and investment advising and retirement planning. He has a BA in Journalism/Political Science from the UA in Tucson and a MBA in Strategic Management from ASU in Tempe. He is a proud member of the Valley of the Sun Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ).