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Farm real estate fraud case numbers grow

An agricultural real estate expert says farm sale fraud is becoming more common.

Colton Lacina with Farmers National Company says, “We’ve seen a large uptick in the last, you know, six months to a year.”

Lacina tells Brownfield that seller impersonation fraud occurs when someone lists the farm property for sale with an agent without the real owner’s knowledge. “We haven’t had one actually transfer. Our latest one got to the title company. A survey had been completed, and then the title company actually reached out to the owner for some wire information for the proceeds, and came to find out that the owner knew nothing about the sale.”

Lacina says numerous fraudulent attempts have been made to sell farms, and the perpetrators are getting more advanced in their methods.  He says agents have learned to be suspicious if there’s no face-to-face communication. “The individuals committing the fraud would only communicate via email, maybe text message, so that was a red flag for agents.”

Lacina says deeds and tax documents are publicly available online, and it might become necessary to restrict public access to some data.  He says another way to catch some fraud is to ask for leasing information. “You know, anytime you sell a farm, somebody wants to know the lease terms on it, so ask them for a copy of the farm lease. A lot of times, if it is fraud, they’ll have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Lacina says there is little landowners can do, but agents need to vet potential land sellers very carefully.

AUDIO: Colton Lacina from Farmers National Company discusses land seller impersonation fraud and the growing number of attempts to illegally sell property with Brownfield’s Larry Lee.