Broward property appraiser urges Hallandale Beach residents to enroll in free 'Owner Alert' after rise in title fraud cases

Broward County Property Appraiser Marty Kiar urged Hallandale Beach residents to sign up for the county's free Owner Alert notification program and reminded homeowners of an upcoming Sept. 17 deadline to request reviews or file petitions about assessed values, during a presentation to the Hallandale Beach City Commission.

Kiar told commissioners that title fraud has become ‘‘a huge problem in South Florida’’ and described recent cases in which criminals filed fake deeds, used falsified powers of attorney and, in one instance, used artificial-intelligence-generated video in an attempt to sell a vacant parcel. "We came up with a fantastic free program to the public called Owner Alert," Kiar said, and he said the county has notified thousands of property owners of legitimate and illegitimate title changes.

The program is hosted at bcpa.net. Kiar said about 300,000 Broward County property owners have signed up so far and that roughly half of Hallandale Beach's homestead property owners were enrolled. He said the county can…