It’s the end of the 20th annual Fraud Prevention Month. We’ve seen how fraud has evolved in that time, and how much more sophisticated it’s become. Organizations like the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre and FCT work to prevent fraud through spreading awareness and education, as well as innovating new ways of detecting fraud. But everyone has a part to play in preventing fraud and protecting the public. Stand between your clients and the fraudsters looking to steal their home ownership by following these three fraud prevention best practices: 1. Verify identity as part of opening each file Fraud pre ..read more

John Tracy and Marie Taylor are two of the minds behind FCT’s fraud prevention practices. Marie is our director of national underwriting, and a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) who examines deals for warning signs of fraud. As senior legal counsel for our claims department, John works to investigate claims of fraud, and reconstruct how they succeeded. Today John and Marie sit down to discuss the different parts they play at FCT in detecting and preventing fraud, what’s changed over the last 20 years and what it’s like to stand between homeowners and the organized criminals targeting them. 1). Ho ..read more

In 2010, Allan Davis* bought a home in Southern Ontario. Everything was quiet until 2016, when Allan got a statement of claim regarding two additional mortgages on his home. According to the lender, Allan had taken out the mortgages in 2015, and hadn’t been making payments on them. The mortgages were now in default, and the lender was beginning a power of sale in order to recoup its loss. But this was the first Allan had ever heard of them, even though his name was on the documents. Someone had approached the lender claiming to be him, taken out Allan’s home equity in his name and walked away ..read more

As a legal professional, you take your clients’ protection seriously. That’s why you use title insurance on every deal, since any transaction could need it. But the concerning rise in title fraud raises a question with a surprisingly difficult answer: how do you know that the person you’re speaking with is actually your client? Digital ID theft is easier than most people realize Criminals have more options than ever to gain access to someone’s identifying information. For example, if your client is using a public Wi-Fi network, someone can intercept their personal data as it moves to and from ..read more

2024 marks the 20th anniversary of Fraud Prevention Month in Canada. Since 2004, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) and industry leaders like FCT have worked to educate the public about the danger of fraud, and to spread awareness on how to stay safe from it. The rise in fraud has been dramatic Until 2010, stats on fraud didn’t track ID theft and identity-based fraud separately, and weren’t always made public. Since then, in the first 10 years of data alone, the total rate of reported fraud increased by 70%, and the trend only accelerated after 2020, and the start of the COVID-19 pandemic ..read more

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know that using title insurance on every deal is the best way to keep your clients protected, as well as yourself. But for homebuyers navigating the closing process, it can feel like one additional detail among all the others. Many buyers unfamiliar with title insurance get it confused with home insurance, which they know is a required purchase. But home and title insurance protect homeowners from completely different types of risks: What does title insurance cover? Title insurance covers dozens of individual risks, but they break down into three ca ..read more

As a legal professional, you know that every transaction carries risk. Your clients rely on your judgement and experience to help them navigate that risk. But a legal opinion can only do so much to prevent future losses that could come from any number of issues with a property. A title insurance policy reinforces your expertise with protection, but only if you use it. Otherwise, if a client comes to you after suffering a loss, it’s just something that could have helped. The simplest and best way to avoid that scenario is to make title insurance a part of each deal, and enjoy the benefits: Insu ..read more

If you’re a real estate professional, you know that change is coming: as more buyers and sellers adapt to the new reality of higher-for-longer interest rates, volumes look primed to rise, even before rates potentially come down again. Is your business positioned to take full advantage of the market’s recovery? When you choose FCT, transactions become more efficient, more convenient and more secure. Here are just some of the ways FCT can help you make the most of 2024’s opportunities: Work smarter on deals, not harder You already know that title insurance from FCT offers essential protection fo ..read more

   Another year is coming to a close, and we’re so grateful to everyone who helped make 2023 a success. Thank you to our valued customers and partners, for your continued trust, and to our dedicated colleagues, for living FCT’s values every day. Together, let’s embrace the spirit of the season and share moments of joy with each other and our communities. Even small acts of kindness can make a difference and bring people together. We look forward to continued collaboration and success with all of you in the coming year. No matter how you celebrate, we hope your holiday season is filled w ..read more

For most of us, the holidays are the season of giving. Unfortunately, many fraudsters see it as the season of taking. Technology gives criminals new ways to steal their targets’ gifts, money, and even their identities. Stay ahead of the fraudsters by brushing up on these holiday season scams: Title fraud Title fraud is when a criminal poses as the owner of a property in order to take out a mortgage on it or sell it to an innocent buyer. The true owner of the property is left facing a long and expensive process to have their title restored. Until it is, they can’t sell their property or use the ..read more