Is the "Deed Copy" Letter a Scam?
It is a solicitation dressed as a government notice. These companies charge 80 to 110 dollars for a certified deed copy your county sells for a few dollars, and you almost never need one, because ownership rests on the recording itself rather than on holding a paper copy.
The envelope looks official. It carries a reference number, your parcel details, a deadline, and a fee of around 90 dollars for a certified copy of your deed. It arrived within weeks of you buying the property, and it reads like something you are supposed to act on.
You are not. Here is what it actually is.
What they are selling
A certified copy of your deed is a real document, and your county recorder will sell you one for a few dollars, often instantly online. These companies order that copy on your behalf and charge 80 to 110 dollars for the service.
That is legal in most states, which is why these mailings persist. What pushes them toward deception is the presentation: an agency-sounding name, a compliance-style reference number, and a response deadline that exists only to hurry you. Most carry a line of small print confirming they are not affiliated with any government agency, which is the tell.
Why you almost certainly do not need one
Ownership rests on the recording, not on possessing a piece of paper. Once your deed is recorded, the county's copy is the authoritative one, and that is what a title company, a lender or a court would rely on. Losing your own copy changes nothing about what you own.
If you want one for your records, order it from the county yourself. If you are told you need one urgently by someone who also wants a fee, that urgency is the product.
How they knew you just bought
The same way everyone else who has been writing to you did. Your deed recording is public the day it lands, and list brokers pull new recordings daily. That one record is what produced the refinance offers, the solar quotes and this letter, which is covered in why the mail will not stop after buying a house.
Worth noticing what the letter proves: a stranger has your legal name as it appears on title, your parcel number and your recording date. That is the same information needed to file something against your property, which is a far more serious use of the same data. See can someone steal my house with a fake deed for what that looks like, and enrol in your county's free fraud-alert programme while you are thinking about it.
If you already paid
You will usually get a genuine certified copy, just at roughly twenty times the county price, so this is closer to a bad purchase than outright theft. If the letter implied government affiliation, dispute the charge with your card issuer. Then report it to your state attorney general and at reportfraud.ftc.gov, because these mailings are policed at state level and complaints are what prompt action.
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Try the free scannerFrequently asked questions
Is the letter offering a copy of my deed a scam?
It is not usually illegal, but it is close to worthless. These companies sell you a certified copy of a document your county will provide for a few dollars, charging 80 to 110 for it, and they format the letter to resemble an official notice. You almost never need a certified copy of your deed, and if you do, the county is the place to get it.
Do I actually need a certified copy of my deed?
Very rarely. Your ownership is established by the recording itself, not by holding a paper copy, so the county's record is what matters in a dispute, a sale or a refinance. If you want one for your files, order it directly from the county recorder, usually for a few dollars in person or online.
How can I tell an official county notice from a deed copy solicitation?
Look for a deadline, a fee payable to a company rather than the county, and an official-sounding name that is not your actual county office. Real county correspondence references your parcel number and does not ask you to send a cheque to a PO box in another state. Most of these letters carry small-print text admitting they are not a government agency.
I already paid one of these companies. What should I do?
You will normally receive a real document, just heavily overpriced, so this is more buyer's remorse than fraud. Dispute the charge with your card issuer if the letter implied a government affiliation, and report it to your state attorney general and the FTC, since these mailings are regulated at state level and complaints are what drive enforcement.
Get your address off the lists behind these texts
These are the exact sites and tools wholesalers pull from. Removing yourself is free, and each guide walks you through it step by step.
- How to remove yourself from BatchLeads, wholesaler skip-trace tool
- How to remove yourself from CoreLogic, property data broker
- How to remove yourself from TruePeopleSearch, people-search site
Keep reading
More on why this happens and how to make it stop.