This free Texas program will help protect you from property fraud. Here’s how to sign up

When Steve Wilson, a Fort Worth resident and Star-Telegram employee, kept getting calls, letters, and people showing up to his house talking about a foreclosure, he got worried. He thought maybe he fell victim to title fraud.

Title theft is when a fraud uses a home owner’s title and information to make a deed in their name according to Forbes. This can expose homeowners to foreclosures or credit damage because of a fraudulent account’s inability to make payments.

Property Fraud Alert, PFA, is a free service where Tarrant County property owners can sign up to have their name tracked to monitor fraudulent activity. Once enrolled, PFA will scan the exact name entered in over 90 different documents submitted to the County Clerk, checking that they are not victims of mortgage or property fraud.

This free service is available to all Texas residents, but it is managed by individual counties.

⚡ More trending stories:

→Snakes are crawling out of hibernation in Texas. Check the toilet before taking a seat.

→In Texas, set your thermostat at 80 when it's 100 degrees, expert says.

→Groceries at this national chain are the cheapest, study finds.

For Wilson, the County Clerk made a typo, transposing address numbers and mistaking his house as a property in foreclosure when it should have been the house down the street. Luckily he caught the anomaly. But to play things safe, he went ahead and signed up for PFA following a suggestion from his sister who happens to be a Realtor. Now, if his name ever shows up as a grantor or grantee on a deed, he will receive an email alert.

PFA uses a wild card system, meaning if your name is Paul, you may be receiving notices for the name Paula as well. “It is highly recommended that you enter only the first letter of your first name in the first name field. For example, with a name such as Steve, Stephen, or Steven, you may wish to enter the letter “S” in the first name field,” according to the Tarrant County Clerk’s office.

You may enter as many names as you want, you just need to apply separately for each title. This is not a bad idea for those who have names that are common misspelled. You may also direct the same name to different email addresses. If your phone number or email changes, simply submit a new request under the correct contact information.

If you end up with an alert that your title has been stolen, take appropriate action. The Federal Trade Commission suggests the following.

• Call the department, explain that your identity has been stolen. Freeze accounts, and change passwords.

• Place a fraud alert on your credit card if needed.

• Go to your local police department and file a report.