Lee County registrar outlines free fraud-alert sign-up for property filings

Pam Bridal, Lee County Register of Deeds, told the Board of Commissioners that her office offers a free fraud-alert sign-up for anyone concerned about fraudulent deeds or filings. "As most of you know, I'm the registrar of deeds here in Lee County," Bridal said, explaining the sign-up is available at leecountync.gov under Departments → Register of Deeds.

Bridal said the service emails a notice to a registrant if a document is filed in their name, typically within 24 to 48 hours. She noted the system cannot stop a fraudulent filing at the moment it is recorded — the office lacks the staff, phone numbers and email addresses to block processing — but said early notification is valuable: "it is better to know within 24 to 48 hours than it be 4 years down the road and you not know this," she said.

Bridal advised residents to include every variation of their name when signing up (for example, Robert/Bob or Pamela/Pam) to avoid missed alerts or confusing matches. She said she is not aware of any confirmed fraudulent deed cases in Lee County but emphasized the sign-up as a preventive step and invited questions from commissioners.

The register provided a brief Q&A with commissioners who thanked Bridal for the presentation. No board action was required; the office will continue outreach to encourage sign-ups.