Sen. Henry Ingwersen expresses support for bill that seeks to implement key recommendation from the Deed Fraud Prevention Commission

AUGUSTA – Yesterday, Sen. Henry Ingwersen, D-Arundel, expressed his support for LD 2182, “An Act to Implement a Recommendation of the Commission to Recommend Methods for Preventing Deed Fraud in the State,” which was the subject of a public hearing before the Legislature’s Housing and Economic Development Committee. It follows months of meetings and a presentation of the Commission’s final report to the Judiciary Committee earlier this year.

“Of the major recommendations in our report, my colleagues and I felt strongly that the State most urgently needed to take action to verify the identities of people selling property in all real estate transactions,” said Sen. Ingwersen. “As the Senate chair for the Commission, I am grateful to my colleagues on the Housing and Economic Development Committee for taking up this bill. It has the potential to create an important, real protection for Mainers so that they do not become victims of deed fraud. Buying and selling property can be a big, daunting process. At the very least, we can give folks peace of mind that the people helping with these life-changing decisions are who they say they are.”

LD 2182 seeks to require the verification of identity for a real estate broker, sales agent or seller. It would also require that a settlement agent would not be able to conduct a settlement involving vacant land or residential real estate unless the agent has verified the identity of the seller. Both the Real Estate Commission and the Superintendent of Consumer Credit Protection would work on the standards (and rules) concerning the verification of seller identity.

“[W]e believe this proposal represents one of the strongest and most effective recommendations produced by the commission’s work,” said Jared Gay of the Maine Credit Union League in testimony supporting the bill. “Implementing this preventative step will go a long way toward protecting Maine homeowners from fraudulent property transfers.”

Last fall, after sponsoring legislation to create the Commission, Sen. Ingwersen was appointed to serve as the Senate chair. Commission members included licensed realtors, title attorneys, registrars of deeds, representatives of law enforcement and banking, the Secretary of State’s office and bipartisan legislators.

The Commission was tasked with gaining a better understanding of the crime of deed fraud, how prevalent it is in Maine and how it occurs. The commission examined existing criminal penalties for deed fraud, available educational materials for awareness and prevention, as well as recent studies, recommendations and legislation from other states designed to prevent and provide relief from deed fraud.

Throughout the course of its work, the commission members and invited guests explained the duties and practices involved in property sales in Maine, including identity verification, notarization, the scope of title insurance and recording of deeds. They also spoke of their experiences and perspectives of deed fraud in Maine.

The Commission worked on four recommendations for the full Legislature to consider, related to the following:

• Legislation to require both real estate licensees and settlement agents to verify the identity of persons selling property in all real estate transactions.
• Accurate, up-to-date addresses and property owner information for municipal tax records.
• Legislation to establish a process for a licensed attorney to record an affidavit in the registry of deeds on behalf of a property owner, nullifying a fraudulent deed; and
• Committee monitoring of national efforts from the Uniform Law Commission to address deed fraud.

Additionally, the commission made five unanimous findings related to what constitutes seller impersonation fraud and the “red flags” to indicate it, data collection of deed fraud, the importance of prevention over prosecution and the benefit of increased public awareness and education.

The final report is available online here. All of the commission’s work can be found online here.

In 2025, in response to growing concern about the prevalence of deed fraud in York County, Sen. Ingwersen sponsored the bill, LD 353, that created the Deed Fraud Prevention Commission. It received unanimous, bipartisan support in the Judiciary Committee, and was emergency-enacted by the Senate and House — also with unanimous, bipartisan votes.

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