AZ Attorney General Files Suits Regarding Alleged Fraud Against Homeowners
In 2025, the Arizona Attorney General filed a suit alleging a scheme to trick Arizona homeowners who have significant equity in their homes into selling their properties far below fair market value. In 2026 the State of Arizona (the “State”) also filed a related suit. The State claimed that some of the defendants would monitor the recording of trustee’s sale notices to alert them of homeowners in danger of foreclosure. The State alleges that the defendants would then go to homeowners’ residences and “trick” them into selling their property “far below market value.”
One AZ Homeowner’s Story
One homeowner, we’ll call her “Jane Doe,” claims that she thought she was signing paperwork to refinance her home equity loan when in fact she was selling her property (the “Property”) that she paid $545,000 in cash for in exchange for the “payoff of all Deeds of Trust,” which, at the time, amounted to only $52,000. The State claims that unbeknownst to Ms. Doe, she had actually signed a Purchase and Sale Agreement, among many other documents. The State claims that the defendants then recorded a warranty deed transferring Ms. Doe’s property to the defendants.
The State alleges that Ms. Doe and her family remained in the home because she had no idea what she had actually signed or what the defendants had recorded, and she continued to make monthly payments to the defendants since she believed that she had simply refinanced her existing loan and that she was still the owner of the Property. The state alleges that the defendants “burdened the Property with additional debt,” and then defaulted on that loan, putting Ms. Doe and her family at risk of eviction from the home that she thought she still owned.
Read the Two Complaints
Click on the links below to read the two referenced complaints regarding these lawsuits. The 2025 case involves many homeowners who were evicted from and lost their homes. The complaints contain truly heartbreaking stories.
Protect yourself and your property
I have no idea how these cases will or have ended, but whether the defendants were found guilty or not, there are some things Arizona homeowners can do to protect themselves from becoming the victims of fraud.
One very important way to protect yourself is to read anything you sign thoroughly prior to signing. If you aren’t sure exactly what the document means, consult with an attorney.
Free Title Alerts
Another thing you can do is to sign up for title alerts in each county in Arizona in which you own real property. This is a free service offered by the county recorder’s office. Just Google “________________ County Title Alert,” and a link should show up. The website should end in “az.gov”. Some of the counties’ title alert pages are harder to find; you just have to look through the county recorder’s website to find it, or give them a call. When you sign up, pay attention to how your names are listed on your deed. Here are some links to a few of the Arizona Title Alert websites:
Although signing up for a title alert doesn’t stop someone from recording something against your property, at least you will be aware when something is recorded using one of the names you’ve listed on the alert. If something is inappropriately or erroneously recorded, you should contact someone such as an attorney or the local police department to assist you.
Early Real Estate Alert System
The Arizona Department of Real Estate has recently created ERAS, or the Early Real Estate Sales Alert System. This is also a free service. With this service you get to register not only the homeowners’ names, but the actual properties. With this system you will be notified whenever an escrow officer enters the required information for a pending sale of your property.
Ideally, you would sign-up for both the county title alert and ERAS since ERAS only notifies you of a pending sale of your property, while a county title alert would also notify you when deeds, deeds of trust, liens, etc. are recorded. A deed of trust means someone has taken out a loan with your property as the collateral. If that person or entity defaults on that loan, your property may be in danger of foreclosure, which may lead to your eviction from the property.
I hope this blog post helps my readers to become more aware and alert to some of the scams that are being perpetrated against Arizona homeowners. Stay safe out there!
The information on this website is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice.
