Reminds me of something I have heard twice now that scares the bejesus out of me.

The Chinese are preparing to steal our mortgage titles en masse. Literally looking up our addresses on Google maps and deciding what they'd like to own.

It's probably less of an issue if you are still paying a mortgage, because whatever entity you are paying your mortgage to probably checks for title theft on a practically daily basis.

It could be more of a problem if you own the property free and clear. Your local county is not required to tell you if something has changed on your title.

However, some locales do offer a free property watch service. Salt Lake County started offering it over a year ago. There are also commercial services like Title Lock that aren't that expensive. Newt Gingrich and Rudi Giuliani promote one service.

I have heard something twice now that scares the bejesus out of me.

The Chinese are preparing to steal our mortgage titles en masse. Literally looking up our addresses on Google maps and deciding what they'd like to own.

It's probably less of an issue if you are still paying a mortgage, because whatever entity you are paying your mortgage to probably checks for title theft on a practically daily basis.

It could be more of a problem if you own the property free and clear. Your local county is not required to tell you if something has changed on your title.

However, some locales do offer a free property watch service. Salt Lake County started offering it over a year ago. There are also commercial services like Title Lock that aren't that expensive. Newt Gingrich and Rudi Giuliani promote one service.

I have heard something twice now that scares the bejesus out of me.

The Chinese are preparing to steal our mortgage titles en masse. Literally looking up our addresses on Google maps and deciding what they'd like to own.

It's probably less of an issue if you are still paying a mortgage, because whatever entity you are paying your mortgage to probably checks for title theft on a practically daily basis.

It could be more of a problem if you own the property free and clear. Your local county is not required to tell you if something has changed on your title.

However, some locales do offer a free property watch service. Salt Lake County started offering it over a year ago.