Twelve US states now have deed-theft laws as Maryland's takes effect

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Maryland's House Bill 130 on deed fraud took effect on 1 October 2026, and Alabama's Property Protection Act of 2026 came into force at the start of the same month, HousingWire reported on 5 October. Twelve states now have a law aimed specifically at deed theft, up from seven in April, according to a quarterly scorecard that the trade publication relayed.

That count needs its label. It does not come from a government body or from a legal survey. It comes from the Property Protection Scorecard published by EquityProtect, a vendor with a commercial interest in the subject, and HousingWire's article, which carries the byline HousingWire Automation and was reviewed by an editor, is the account used here. The laws themselves are public acts of state legislatures. The tally, and the way states are ranked, belong to the vendor.

EquityProtect Property Protection Scorecard, a vendor publication, as reported by HousingWire on 5 October 2026; laws and bills counted to 30 September 2026.

What the count says, and who is counting

The scorecard started in April 2026 and appears every quarter. HousingWire reports that it sorts states into five tiers and that the latest edition reflects laws enacted, or bills still active, up to 30 September 2026. On that basis twelve states have dedicated deed-theft laws, five more than at the launch. The same scorecard says 29 states still have no deed-theft statute and puts 15 states in a study or monitoring phase.

HousingWire also lists the places where the scorecard found no legislative action at all: Alaska, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, Vermont and Wyoming.

Two cautions apply before anyone repeats those numbers. The first is the source: a company that works in this field has an interest in how large the problem looks and in how the remedies are described, so its framing is that of an interested party. The second is the word "dedicated". The research read for this article does not include the list of the twelve states. As the next sections show, the new state laws that HousingWire describes do very different things, from creating a criminal offence to setting up a study group.

Maryland: a task force, not a new offence

Maryland is the clearest example. House Bill 130, in effect since 1 October 2026, creates a task force to study deed fraud, according to HousingWire. The bill had been wider. Proposed criminal prohibitions and a Deed Fraud Prevention Grant Fund were both removed before the bill was enacted.

So the Maryland law that took effect this month is a commitment to examine the problem. HousingWire's account describes no new offence and no new duty at closing or at the recording office in the enacted version. The scorecard nonetheless moved Maryland to its Tier 1, HousingWire reports. What each tier measures is not explained in the material read for this article, so the move does not by itself tell a reader how far the act goes.

For Maryland brokers, title officers and settlement staff, the practical position is therefore unchanged for now by this law. What the task force will recommend, and when, is not given in HousingWire's report.

Alabama: identity checks and a power to void sales

Alabama's law goes further in practice. The Property Protection Act of 2026 requires the seller's identity to be verified in higher-risk transactions, HousingWire reports, and it lets the Alabama Securities Commission void fraudulent sales.

Both parts matter to the trade. The first places a check on the seller, the party that the title industry's survey on seller impersonation, cited below, is concerned with. The second gives a state body a route to undo a sale.

HousingWire's report does not set out which transactions count as higher-risk, or who must carry out the verification. Those details decide how much the law changes a listing agent's or a closing attorney's working day, and they are to be read in the act itself. The report also gives the start of the law only as early October 2026, without a day.

What the other new laws require

Three more states changed their rules earlier in 2026, and together they show how varied the approach is.

Arizona's Senate Bill 1479, in effect since 12 September 2026, has the longest list of measures in HousingWire's account. Knowingly recording a false or fraudulent property document is now a felony there. Notaries must record a thumbprint for deeds and other real property documents. Recording a deed in person requires photo identification. The bill also repealed a provision under which a forged deed could become valid title after five years. Arizona, like Maryland, moved to the scorecard's Tier 1.

Tennessee and Virginia both acted from 1 July 2026. In Tennessee, anyone who prepares a deed must submit a sworn affidavit. In Virginia, settlement agents are required to verify identity.

Read side by side, the laws act at different points of a transaction. Tennessee looks at the person who drafts the deed. Virginia and Alabama look at identity during the sale. Arizona looks at the notary and the recording counter, and adds a criminal penalty. Maryland, for the moment, looks at the question itself. A firm that works across state lines cannot assume that a routine built for one of these states satisfies another.

The fraud figures behind the bills

The laws arrive as reported fraud losses rise. HousingWire cites the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center, which recorded 12,368 real estate fraud complaints in 2025 and US$275.1 million in reported losses, up from US$173.6 million in 2024. That is a rise of US$101.5 million in one year, or about 58 per cent.

Two points of scope matter here. These are losses that people reported, and the category is real estate fraud as a whole, of which deed theft is one part. Older owners carry a heavy share: seniors were 19 per cent of the victims in the FBI data but accounted for 44 per cent of the dollar losses, HousingWire reports.

The title industry's own survey points the same way. A study on seller impersonation published in September 2026 by the American Land Title Association found that 59 per cent of title companies saw at least one attempt in 2025, against 28 per cent in the association's 2024 study, according to HousingWire. In April 2026 alone, 45 per cent reported an attempt, compared with 19 per cent in the same period two years earlier. The association's industry news listing says the study drew on 245 title professionals across 40 states, the District of Columbia and the US Virgin Islands.

The same study describes what is targeted and what it costs. Sixty-eight per cent of respondents named free-and-clear properties as common targets, and 25 per cent named primary residences. Half of the firms that had paid claims said the average claim exceeded US$100,000. Nearly six in ten said manipulated voice or image technology is becoming common, as HousingWire summarises it.

One further cost figure comes from the vendor behind the scorecard and should be read as such: EquityProtect says victims can face US$50,000 to US$150,000 in legal fees to restore ownership, HousingWire reports. No independent source for that range is given.

What changes for agents and closing offices

For the people who handle a sale, the common thread of the new laws is identity. Virginia puts the duty on settlement agents. Alabama attaches it to higher-risk transactions. Arizona asks notaries for a thumbprint and recording staff for photo identification. Tennessee asks the person who prepares the deed to swear to it.

The survey figures explain why the checks cluster around the seller. The American Land Title Association's study is about seller impersonation, and its respondents named free-and-clear properties far more often than primary residences. The fraud it describes depends on a false seller being accepted as the real one, and the new duties fall on the people who meet that seller or handle the papers: the settlement agent, the notary, the deed preparer and the recording counter.

Recommendations from public bodies run in the same direction. The New Jersey State Commission of Investigation reported in September 2026 that deed fraud is rising, and recommended stronger identity verification together with expedited quiet-title hearings, according to HousingWire. For owners, the FBI advised in a public service announcement in June 2026 that they register for the recording notifications offered by counties, HousingWire reports.

Where bills have stalled, and what comes next

Not every proposal has become law. In Pennsylvania, House Bill 1406 passed the House by 203 votes to 0 in June 2025 and cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee by 13 votes to 0 in September 2025, and has seen no action since, HousingWire reports. In South Carolina, Senate Bill 822 passed the Senate but died in the House Judiciary Committee at the end of the 2025-2026 session, and would have to be reintroduced in 2027.

The Pennsylvania case shows that unanimous votes do not guarantee a finish. A bill with no recorded opposition in the House vote or in the Senate committee vote has now waited more than a year for a final step.

Three things are already on the calendar or in motion. The scorecard is quarterly, so the count is due to be restated at the next edition, by the same vendor and on the same five-tier method. Maryland's task force now exists in law and has its study to carry out. And the 15 states that the scorecard places in a study or monitoring phase are the ones it records as still examining the question.

For readers in the trade, the useful habit is the one this month's two laws illustrate. Maryland's and Alabama's laws took effect at the start of the same month, one with a study group and the other with identity checks and a power to void sales. A headline count of dedicated laws does not show that difference. The text of each act does.

Kooky, from Shaka

Kooky edits Agents Estate and builds Shaka, the payment router he made for real estate professionals. One payment comes in, and every agent, agency and party in the deal receives their signed share on closing date.

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