Latest / In Focus with Carolyn Hutcheson / Property Act - May 12, 2026

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Property Act - May 12, 2026 · In Focus with Carolyn Hutcheson

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  Support comes from the Rosa Parks Museum on Troy University's Montgomery campus,
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  located on the spot of Mrs. Parks' historic 1955 arrest, and featuring
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  exhibits that chronicle the history of the Montgomery bus boycott.
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  More information at Troy.edu slash Rosa Parks.
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  From Troy Public Radio, this is In Focus, and I'm Carolyn Hutcheson.
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  In April, the Alabama legislature passed a property protection bill regarding real estate
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  fraud.
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  Amanda Sen, director of the Alabama Securities Commission, visits the exchange today to explain
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  how the act works.
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  Amanda, welcome back to Troy Public Radio.
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  Again, Carolyn, always glad to be with you.
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  Well, last Wednesday night during the storm, you had quite an exciting plane flight.
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  Well, Carolyn, I was traveling back from Washington, D.C., meeting with our congressional delegation,
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  and our pilot had hoped to beat some storms, but we wound up circling over them for over
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  an hour before we could land.
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  So while you guys were experiencing torrential rain, pop-up tornadoes and storms, we were
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  flying above the clouds, and probably in the safest spot.
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  Glad you arrived safely, and thanks to the skill of the pilot.
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  He was an outstanding pilot.
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  Any other pilot may have just turned around and gone back to Washington, D.C. or Atlanta,
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  depending on your flight, but he was very calm.
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  He kept us up to date, and he told us we had plenty of expensive fuel on our jet so that
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  we could continue to circle for as long as we needed.
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  Well, since you are safely back, what concerns do you want to share with the listeners?
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  Well, Carolyn, you know we like to talk about fraud on this show, so today I'd like to talk
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  about a particular type of fraud referred to as seller impersonation fraud or title
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  fraud, what most of our consumers refer to under a new bill passed just this year in
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  our Alabama legislature.
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  So who does this affect?
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  It's referred to sort of colloquially as title fraud, but the name of the act is the Alabama
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  Property Protection Act of 2026, and this came up as a result of some consumer complaints
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  in Alabama that people's homes or real property had been sold or was attempting to be sold
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  out from under them unbeknownst to them by a fraudster who had used sophisticated AI
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  tools to get a property listed.
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  This type of fraud has been in the news lately affecting homeowners, landowners.
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  It must be very upsetting to them.
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  What was the scope of this title fraud?
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  It was the entire real estate industry.
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  They work with their clients and their consumers, and they were hearing it.
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  Probate judges across the state were concerned.
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  They wanted to protect their residents and their communities from title fraud.
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  I know our title association and our lawyers that work in real estate are all very concerned,
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  so it was certainly a cooperative effort by those that are involved in the real estate
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  world that want to be sure that the Alabama public is not victimized by these fraudsters
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  who attempt to sell property.
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  We want homeowners and landowners to feel safe owning property in Alabama.
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  During the recent regular session of the Alabama legislature, not this call session, what actually
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  happened with your bill proposal?
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  Those individuals I just mentioned, stakeholders, got together and Senator Orr worked with several
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  groups to produce a bill, again, that provides for investigations into these matters.
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  The Alabama Securities Commission is responsible for investigating and being able to take action.
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  It provides criminal penalties for those who do attempt to sell property that does not
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  belong to them.
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  It provides a streamlined adjudication process so that people, if their property is listed
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  or eventually sold, to unwind that quickly, as these transactions can take years sometimes
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  in courts that are just backlogged with so many cases right now, to unwind, so a streamlined
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  process.
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  It also creates a fund for any fees and fines that are collected in these cases that will
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  be deposited into a fund for people who are harmed by real estate type frauds or title
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  frauds.
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  This sounds like a really important step in protecting people who are involved in real
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  estate, so it's a big step forward expediting the process.
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  At the moment, what should Alabama property owners be doing to actually protect themselves
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  since this is a type of fraud that is escalating?
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  Property owners, real estate professionals, lawyers need to continue to be on high alert
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  as artificial intelligence is allowing fraudsters to literally impersonate every player in this
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  field.
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  Always conduct due diligence.
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  If you have properties that you own anywhere across the United States, befriend someone
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  that lives nearby.
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  Ask them to check on your property from time to time to make sure there's not a for sale
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  sign, which is what we have received in complaints from the public.
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  They said, oh my gosh, I got a call and there's a sign in my yard and the piece of property
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  that my house is for sale.
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  Get people to continue to check on your properties.
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  Most of these involve absentee owners, so somebody, their house is vacant for a while,
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  maybe the person's in the military or they've just owned real estate that they plan to develop
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  down the road.
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  Check on that from time to time.
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  They're also in some probate jurisdictions, probate courts.
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  For example, Montgomery County probate judge has a program, it's called the REACT program,
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  that allows homeowners to put a notice in their file and they'll receive phone calls
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  should any transaction be initiated or any action being taken in connection with their
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  file or their property.
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  And through this bill, the Alabama Securities Commission hopes to be able to provide this
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  software to other jurisdictions that may not have the resources to have the software or
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  just assist them in providing a notice type program in their jurisdiction.
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  Amanda, you continue telling us that AI is causing mischief in a lot of ways, and thankfully
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  the Alabama Securities Commission is on top of this.
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  If a property owner needs to file a claim with the ASC, how does that work?
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  Yes, and I hope none of your listeners are subject to mischief.
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  I like that.
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  AI does cause so much mischief these days, although it has some really great uses, but
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  for us.
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  So if a homeowner or property owner has been subject to or received a call that their property
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  has been listed, although the bill is not effective until October 1st, they can still
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  contact us and we'll assist them, certainly, in either getting them to local law enforcement.
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  We've already put a notice on our website, a summary of the bill, and there's a link
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  to a copy of the bill.
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  But after October 1st, we'll have a complaint process.
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  So if they believe they've been harmed, contact us and we will help get them to the right
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  person until the effective date of the new law.
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  So the website, again, is ASC.alabama.gov.
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  You mentioned earlier that AI is impersonating voices.
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  So what do we do?
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  It's so hard to know now because fraudsters can take audio bytes from anywhere on the
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  internet.
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  And I can promise you there's a sound byte for anyone that's ever clicked on anything
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  online or been on social media.
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  So we encourage everyone, pick up the phone and call the individual directly just to confirm
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  or verify the identity, especially if it purports to be a professional.
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  And certainly, if they're asking you for personal information or financial information, hang
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  up and call your financial professional or sometimes it's a medical office that purports
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  to call to collect personal information or identifying information, but hang up and call
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  directly to verify.
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  Or if it's a local business, drive to the local business and go in for yourself.
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  And that's a sure way to verify identity if you're standing face to face with the person
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  that has purportedly contacted you.
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  That is valuable advice.
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  Amanda, thank you for joining us today.
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  Thank you.
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  Always enjoy talking with you, Carolyn.
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  That was Amanda Sen, Director of the Alabama Securities Commission.
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  More information about the Alabama Property Protection Act can be found at the ASC.alabama.gov
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  website.
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  One useful tool for investors is to check out the Scam Alert section under Investor
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  Education on that website.
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  Thanks for joining us today for The Exchange from In Focus, which is a podcast wherever
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  you get your podcasts.
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  I'm Carolyn Hutcheson, and this is listener-supported Troy Public Radio.