Ashley Boyko, Escrow Closing Officer at Liberty Title & Escrow in Fort Myers, Florida, received a copy of a fully executed purchase agreement with instructions to open escrow and order a title report. The listing agent informed her this was his first foreign listing for a vacant lot.

The sales price was $27,000. The seller lives in France and the agent's only means of communicating with the seller had been via email.

Right away Ashely noticed a discrepancy on the purchase agreement: The seller provided a mailing address in London — not France. Oddly enough, the seller also provided a black and white copy of his passport, but the passport was a Swiss Passport; again, not from France.

The property tax records did reflect an address in France as the address where the tax bills were sent. So far, that was the only fact consistent with what the seller told the listing agent.

Ashley put a plan together. She pulled a Seller Information Sheet. She sent a secure email to the seller at the email address provided by the listing agent. She instructed the seller to complete a Seller Information Sheet and email it back with a color copy of his passport.

Ashley also notified the seller he would have to sign the closing documents — which had to be notarized in front of a notary public at the U.S. Embassy. She advised him it could take weeks to schedule an appointment and urged him to make arrangements now.

The listing agent also asked Ashley to provide the seller with the name and contact information of a local accountant or CPA who specialized in preparing the appropriate IRS forms needed for a foreign seller subject to Foreign Investment in Real property Tax Act (FIRPTA) Withholding. Ashley referred the seller to a local CPA her office regularly works with.

Weeks later the seller replied by sending back a partially completed Seller Information Sheet and a color copy of his Swiss Passport. The seller only provided his name and email address on the sheet; he did not complete the address or Taxpayer Identification Number fields.

The seller's passport was clearly altered. The font was bolded in some areas and not in others. It also appeared as if he pasted his name over the real name of the passport holder. When Ashley zoomed in she could even see the letters underneath the letters that were being covered up.

Whose passport was it? Did the imposter somehow think he was the real seller's doppelganger? Did he think that if he altered the name on his passport, he would get away with stealing this property?

What we know is that he clearly forged a passport by cutting and pasting over it. What we do not know is if he used the real property owner's picture on the passport and, if so, did the real property owner and he look alike.

Ashley contacted the listing agent, who the seller included on the email, and asked him if he had viewed the passport. He had and they both agreed they wanted another form of identification. Ashley replied by asking the seller to send over a copy of his driver's license and whether he had contacted the CPA yet.

The seller refused to contact the CPA or provide a copy of his driver's license. He also asked Ashley to email his closing documents. He informed her he would take the closing documents to his own notary and send them to her. Ashley replied by letting him know the documents would have to be notarized at the U.S. Embassy.

Next, Ashley began to prepare a letter addressed to the seller at the same address the tax bill is mailed — confirming he had listed and was selling his lot. Before she was able to finish, the seller replied with the following (improper grammar, spacing and all):

Ashley reported the details to settlement@fnf.com saying, "All along I had a bad feeling." The buyer was disappointed since he really wanted to purchase the lot, but he was glad he did not become a victim.

Ashley notified the title plant and advised the listing agent to reach out to the owner of the lot at their address in France where the tax bills were being sent. The agent agreed.

This article was provided by contributing author,
Diana Hoffman, Corporate Escrow Administrator
Fidelity National Title Group
National Escrow Administration