In the spirit of transparency and open government, Recorder of Deeds Karen A. Yarbrough released her first Annual Report since taking office just over one year ago. This follows a Transition Report and last year’s 100 Day Report. Though CCRD has a “Statement of Purpose” that outlines our duties and mission, Recorder Yarbrough likes to […]
Dirty Deeds: NBC Shows How Loophole Could Cost You Your Home
NBC 5’s Lisa Parker gets at the heart of the problem with property and recording fraud: criminals and bad actors abusing the open recording system and a collective sense of honesty on which we all rely. [evp_embed_video url=”https://www.cookrecorder.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/NBCdirtydeedsVideo.mp4″ width=”450″ height=”250″] Because homeowner’s can’t “freeze” their property titles and because County Recorders aren’t allowed by law […]
CCRD Fraud Unit Work Leads to Alleged Scammer’s Arrest
The Cook County Recorder of Deeds’ Property Fraud Unit is used to receiving reports of recording fraud, but up until two weeks ago, it had never received a call reporting an attempted home theft in progress. The elderly woman on the line said a man was downstairs changing her locks, and showed her a document […]
CBS Chicago: Recorder Cracking Down on Home-Hijacking Fraud
Video can be viewed in right sidebar —-> CBS Chicago’s Mike Puccinelli broke a story that we were proud to be a part of: though we are used to getting calls about suspected property fraud, never had we received a call about a crime in progress. In this situation, the scammer was changing the locks […]
Yarbrough’s Anti-Fraud Legislative Agenda Headed to Governor
Victims of property and recording fraud could soon have new tools to fight back and clear their titles thanks to the Illinois General Assembly’s recent passage of Cook County Recorder Karen A. Yarbrough’s anti-fraud legislative agenda. Recording fraud is the recordation of a document known to be fraudulent in an attempt to create a “cloud […]
Recorder Yarbrough Unveils Aggressive Legislative Agenda to Fight Fraud
Cook County Recorder of Deeds Karen A. Yarbrough promised the property owners of Cook County that she’d be their chief advocate and she is making good on that promise by authoring three pieces of state legislation to allow the Recorder’s Office to fight property fraud. “I knew coming into this office that the Recorder of […]