New Laws Aim to Fight Deed Fraud

Deed fraud has the potential to affect every single person who owns or has any relation to real property. Virginia REALTORS® has produced lots of content over the years on this kind of fraud, but for purposes of this article, we’ll give you a quick refresher.

In short, the scheme is straightforward: a fraudster forges a property owner’s signature on a deed, records it with the county clerk, and suddenly “owns” your home on paper. From there, they may take out a loan against it, sell it to an unsuspecting buyer, or simply tie up the title in a legal knot that takes years to unravel.

After a yearlong statewide study on the scope of deed fraud across the Commonwealth, the 2026 General Assembly passed companion bills HB 163 and SB 316. The new law has some provisions starting on July 1st of this year, 2026, and some on July 1st, 2027.

First let’s look at what is effective July 1st, 2026. Notaries serve as a critical checkpoint in real estate transactions, and this law tightens these requirements. All Virginia notaries, both e-notaries AND traditional notaries, will be required to keep a record of notarial acts and maintain those for 5 years. They must also provide proof of their commission to obtain a seal.

Settlement agents must now exercise reasonable care in ascertaining the seller of the property. For example, this could include identity verification processes, which include requiring multiple forms of identification.

Now let’s jump ahead to July 1st, 2027. Notaries will have to complete pre-license and continuing education. Additionally, localities with a network or system for electronic documents must offer a property alert notification system to residents. Property owners can sign up to receive alerts if anything is filed with their property address. This already exists in some localities, and they are already ahead of the game; other localities will have until July 1st, 2027.

Why is this important? If you own real property in Virginia, the most important step you can take right now is to enroll in your county’s property alert system as soon as it becomes available, if not already available. This new law will help to put some barriers to deed fraud and protect all property owners in the Commonwealth.

This blog article was written by Santiago Montalvo, Staff Counsel for Virginia REALTORS® to update REALTORS® and homeowners about the Deed Fraud issue.