Sen. Henry Ingwersen presents final report of the Deed Fraud Prevention Commission to legislative committee

Posted: January 16, 2026 | Senator Ingwersen

AUGUSTA – Yesterday, after months of meetings, Sen. Henry Ingwersen, D-Arundel, and Rep. Adam Lee, D-Auburn, presented the final report of the Commission to Recommend Methods for Preventing Deed Fraud in the State to the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee.

Last fall, Sen. Ingwersen was appointed to serve as the Senate chair of the Commission. 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 and 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.

“Through this thoughtful commission, we developed a fuller understanding of the problem and how we might be able to address it in the next legislative session,” said Sen. Ingwersen. “With the seeming rise in deed fraud, it is critical that we take action to protect fellow Mainers from predatory scammers, especially for those who have worked hard and lived in their homes for decades or held onto vacant property as a nest egg for later in life.”

The Commission worked on 4 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 the coming months, the Judiciary Committee will decide whether or not to develop any of the recommendations into bills for the full Legislature to consider.

In 2025, 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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