Notarize Blog

More than half the world’s population is now online, and as we look for simpler, more convenient solutions to everyday issues, we’ll move our most sensitive information online – if we haven’t already.

This is a great concern for many in the real estate space, where thieves have used this information to steal the down payments – often the life savings – of thousands of prospective homeowners.

Fraud is becoming more common as Internet scams become more creative and complex. Here are 50 statistics that show the threat of real estate fraud in 2019.

Wire fraud and phishing scams are growing issues in the real estate space. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) reports an 1100% increase in Business Email Compromise scams: financial fraud that targets wire transfers by both businesses and individuals.

Unlike most Internet scams, there are several vulnerable targets in a single mortgage transaction – buyers, sellers, real estate agents, attorneys, mortgage lenders, title companies, notaries. Here is how one title agency, Community Title Network, uses remote online notarization to identify real estate fraud.

Real estate fraud is on the rise. As an industry, it’s on us to combat these growing threats head-on to ensure the integrity of online real estate transactions.

That's why we're proud to announce our latest eBook: 3 Easy Ways to Identify Real Estate Fraud. This free guide uses the latest research and real-life anecdotes to highlight the growing complexities of fraud, the clues that may hint at a fraudulent transaction, and the business processes you can adopt to stop fraud in its tracks.

Below is an excerpt from 3 Easy Ways to Identify Real Estate Fraud. You may access the complete guide here.

Since we announced our Notarize for Title Agents product just over a year ago, we’ve heard a ton of feedback on how to make a more seamless experience for anyone placing closing orders with Notarize.

Today, we’re thrilled to share that any title agent can integrate with ResWare right from their Notarize dashboard in 30 minutes or less. Every title or closing agent who has a Notarize account now has the ability to add their ResWare credentials and start sending transactions right from their ResWare accounts.

When Brian Lemke joined Elevated Title as Chief Business Officer nearly three years ago, he was determined to take the national title company through its next phase of growth. A pillar in the real estate industry for more than 15 years, Elevated Title was seeking new technology to drive a consumer experience built for the 21st century.

“We knew that homebuyers were becoming more tech-savvy, and the way we wanted people to close on their home simply wasn’t the way they wanted to anymore,” said Lemke. “We needed to use technology to bring the home buying and refinance process to them, on their terms.”

Over the last four years, we’ve solved some incredibly challenging problems. From notarizing documents online to completing fully digital real estate closings, our platform has more than 200 years of combined human effort invested with countless first-of-their-kind innovations to show for it.

No one thought we could digitize some of the most complicated and cumbersome industries, but four years later, we’re averaging nearly $1 billion of online real estate closings per month and powering the customer experiences of thousands of businesses across the country.

Today, we’re thrilled to announce our new free eSignature solution that makes Notarize the world’s first comprehensive digital transaction management platform. Customers can now digitize and automate their operations in a single line of code and run their business more efficiently -- all from one place.

Changing an industry is no easy feat. Not only are you changing the way that businesses operate, which in our case, has been done the same way for hundreds of years, but you’re also changing consumer behavior. You’re entrusted with major moments in people’s lives, on the pursuit to build a better way for technology to deliver an experience built for the digital age.

Along our journey, we’ve been fortunate enough to partner with the nation’s largest homebuilder, real estate company and fastest-growing lenders. Today, we added the nation’s largest title company to the list, Fidelity. Together, we’re excited to transform the way people buy and sell homes across the country.

For more than 100,000 title agents nationwide, there has always been the promise of offering a more convenient, on-demand real estate experience. Life happens, and fewer buyers and sellers are able to make closings during a 9-5 business day. To stay competitive in the title market, and offer a closing experience that is centered around speed and convenience, title companies are looking for technology to help them make one of life's most important moments memorable.

Today we're excited to officially open up our title network, empowering title agents nationwide to place orders for online closings in five minutes or less.

Notarize is proud to pioneer the ability for anyone to buy, sell, or finance their home entirely online. We’ve facilitated more than $1 billion in online real estate transactions and helped thousands of borrowers close on their dream homes from anywhere in the world.

The last four years have taught us plenty about what it takes to serve lenders -- from the fastest-growing national lenders to small banks and credit unions.

Today, we’re excited to introduce the world’s first closing automation platform. Lenders can now serve every type of closing -- from fully online to hybrid closings.

Nearly half the country has adopted remote online notarization (RON), embracing technology that makes the notarial act safer, simpler, and more convenient.

With RON, trillion-dollar industries from auto insurance to wealth management are digitizing their businesses for the first time. In response to the nationwide support and to provide a resource for those looking to learn more about RON, we have built a Slideshare presentation that explains this emerging technology.

Here are three key things you’ll learn.