Title Looks Back, We Look Forward: Why Title Companies and DeedLock Are Best Friends

Every owner's title policy is built to look backward. The deepest title search there is ends on the day the policy is issued. Meanwhile, the county recorder's office stays open the next morning, and the morning after that, for as long as your client owns the home.

That isn't a weakness in title insurance. It's how title insurance was designed. It's also the reason we built our company to look the other way.

At Gold Patrons, we hear one question from title professionals more than any other: "Are you competing with us?" No. We're your best friend in this business. You protect the property's past, we watch its future, and a homeowner who has both is covered on both sides of the closing date.

What title insurance does, and does it well

Title companies do some of the most important and least appreciated work in real estate. They search the chain of title, find old liens and recording errors, clear defects before closing, and then insure the buyer against problems that got through.

First American, one of the largest title insurers in the country, explains it plainly: title insurance "covers problems from the past." Things that happen after the purchase, such as a property tax lien that comes due later, generally aren't covered by a standard policy. A Pennsylvania title agency gives the same answer: an owner's policy protects against defects that existed up to the date the policy was issued, including forgery and undisclosed heirs, and doesn't cover problems that come up after that date.

Look at what that protects. A forged deed from 1998 that the search missed? Covered. An heir from a decades-old estate who shows up with a claim? Covered. That's real, valuable protection, and no homeowner should close without it.

The record doesn't stop changing at closing

The trouble is that criminals know the record is public, and they know how few owners ever look at it.

Seller impersonation fraud is growing fast. In a survey released by the American Land Title Association (ALTA), 59% of title firms said they had run into at least one seller impersonation attempt in the prior calendar year. That's more than double the 28% in ALTA's 2024 survey. Nearly a quarter of respondents said they had seen three or more attempts in just the month before the survey.

The FBI is seeing the same thing. In April 2025, its Boston Division warned of a steady increase in reports of quitclaim deed fraud. It described scammers who comb public records for vacant parcels and mortgage-free properties, pose as the owner, and ask an agent to list the property. The Bureau noted that owners often don't find out until someone alerts them, sometimes after the sale has already gone through.

The numbers keep climbing. FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center data show 12,368 real estate fraud complaints in 2025 and $275.1 million in reported losses, up from $173.6 million in 2024. That category covers more than deed theft, but the trend is clear. When forgery does turn into a title claim, ALTA reports that the average title insurance fraud and forgery claim is now more than $143,000.

Vacant land and non-owner-occupied properties are where the risk is highest. In the National Association of Realtors' 2025 Deed and Title Fraud Survey, 62% of respondents said the title fraud cases they knew about involved vacant land.

The title industry is already reaching forward, and that helps

The title industry hasn't ignored this. ALTA has published the ALTA 49 and 49.1 endorsements, which let homeowners buy post-policy protection against forged deeds and mortgages. The 49.1 is for people who already have an owner's policy, and its coverage applies to forgeries recorded after the endorsement date. If a forged document is recorded, the insurer defends the homeowner's title and pays the losses and legal costs to fix the public record, subject to the policy terms. ALTA's Homeowner's Policy has offered broad post-policy forgery protection for years.

We think these are excellent products, and title agents should offer them. Look at what they do, though. Insurance is a remedy. It defends you and pays out after something has gone wrong. It doesn't call you on the Tuesday afternoon a stranger records a deed on your client's lake house.

Think of a building with fire insurance and smoke detectors. Nobody asks which one to choose. The insurance pays to rebuild, and the detector gets you out while the damage is still small. Title insurance, with or without post-policy endorsements, is the insurance. Title surveillance is the smoke detector.

Backward plus forward: full-timeline protection

Here's how the two fit together for a homeowner:

• Title insurance looks backward. It covers hidden defects, old liens, past forgeries and recording errors up to the policy date, and with the right endorsement it backs up the owner financially after a forgery.
• Title surveillance looks forward. It watches county property records around the clock after closing and alerts the owner as soon as something is filed against their title, so a fraudulent deed or mortgage gets caught before the home is sold or borrowed against.

Neither one replaces the other. Together they protect the property's past, its present and its future. We designed DeedLock, the original AI Title Surveillance®, to sit next to the owner's policy, never in place of it. Cancelling it requires identity verification, so the same scammer who's trying to steal the deed can't just turn off the alarm first.

Why title companies should partner with us

Partnering with Gold Patrons isn't a favor to us. It's a smart move for your business. Here's why.

You keep the relationship after closing. In most transactions, a homeowner hears from their title company at closing and then never again. A post-closing protection product puts your name in front of your clients for years, and you become the company that kept watching.

You stand out in a crowded market. Agents and lenders pick the title partners that make them look good. Being the title company that protects buyers on both sides of the closing date is something you can actually sell.

You catch problems earlier. When a fraudulent filing surfaces within days instead of months or years, there are fewer downstream transactions, fewer parties involved and less to untangle. Early detection is good for homeowners, and it's good for everyone who has to fix the record afterward.

You show the industry at its best. Title professionals are often the last line of defense against seller impersonation at the closing table. Helping clients guard their homes after closing carries that same commitment forward.

How to put the partnership to work

Here's what this looks like day to day for the title companies we work with:

1. Make it part of the closing conversation. When your closer explains the owner's policy, have them explain the timeline too: "This policy protects you from the past. Here's what protects you going forward."
2. Bundle it with forward-looking endorsements. Where they're available, offer ALTA 49 or 49.1 coverage along with surveillance. One gives the client a financial remedy, the other gives them early warning, and the client gets both.
3. Put the riskiest properties first. Vacant land, second homes, rentals, inherited properties and homes owned free and clear are the profiles fraudsters look for. Flag them at intake.
4. Reach out to past clients. Your closed files are full of homeowners who trusted you once. A note explaining what title insurance does and doesn't cover after closing is a useful, relationship-building reason to get in touch.
5. Get your referral partners on board. Agents, lenders and attorneys want their clients protected after closing as well. Give them a simple explanation they can repeat.
6. Train your team to keep the message straight. The message is "in addition to," never "instead of." Every client should have an owner's policy, and every owner's policy works better with someone watching the record.

The bottom line

Title insurance answers one question: is this title clean today? Title surveillance answers the one that comes after: is it still clean tomorrow, next year and ten years from now? A homeowner deserves a yes to both.

That's why we don't see title companies as competitors. You look backward and we look forward. Together, our shared clients get protection across the whole time they own the home.

If you run a title agency, underwriter office or settlement company and want to protect your clients long after closing, contact Gold Patrons to talk about partnering with us.