UPDATED: Rutherford County, TN—Rutherford County Register of Deeds Heather Dawbarn recommends property owners register on MyLandAlert.com, a free service that will alert if anything is recorded in the Register’s Office under their name in an effort to protect the owner from “deed theft”.

“We have been receiving a lot of calls recently from concerned citizens,” says Dawbarn. She relates the increase in calls with commercials that share testimonials of people being evicted from their personal property because someone “hacked” their deed.

Dawbarn says during her career, she has only seen one case and the person was jailed for attempting to steal someone’s property. “This is very rare,” says Dawbarn.

“These commercials are geared toward offering services similar to landalert.com, but at a price,” she added.

Dawbarn recommends registering with the free service. “There is a link to this service on our site. After signing up, you will receive a text or email anytime your name is recorded in the Register’s Office.”

She further adds, “Keep in mind, just as an example, if you refinance, you will receive an alert.”

Dawbarn shares that the service is a few years old and other counties have similar services available as well. She recommends that those outside of Rutherford County contact the local Register of Deeds Office to inquire about the services they offer.

“Please spread the word to your friends and family members,” she said. “Though these cases are rare, you can put measures in place to reduce your risk of being hacked.”

For more information, please visit http://rutherfordcountytn.gov/registerofdeeds/.