District Attorney’s Real Estate Fraud Unit Warns Public About Vacant Lot Listing Scam

Santa Barbara County District Attorney John T. Savrnoch warned the public [this week] about a fraudulent scheme of fake listings of vacant land for sale in the community.

Since September 2023, the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office Real Estate Fraud Unit has become aware of several attempts to fraudulently list vacant lots for sale, with the listings made by someone other than the true property owner.

Generally, a local real estate agent is contacted over the Internet via Zillow, Redfin, or a similar online real estate website. The fraudster claims to be the legitimate owner of the land and insists on a quick sale.

They claim not to be able to meet with the agent in person for various reasons, and provide legitimate looking, albeit false, identification papers. As these scams have become more common, our local agents are much more aware of the potential for this fraud.

The District Attorney’s Office is working with the local Associations of Realtors, as well as with the Santa Barbara County Clerk-Recorder – Assessor’s Office, to prevent these attempts from ever reaching completion.

If you own vacant land in Santa Barbara County, please be aware of this scam and keep an eye on your property. If you are contacted by someone claiming to own vacant property for sale, please be aware that owners’ names are generally public record, available in recorded documents.

Some of these cases were only brought to the attention of the District Attorney’s Office after the legitimate owner saw a “For Sale” sign on their own land. You can type in the street address on any real estate website or simply on Google, and if an “Active Listing” appears on your property – a listing that you did not authorize – you can contact the listing agent directly to notify them of the problem, and also notify a District Attorney’s Office Real Estate Fraud Investigator at (805) 560-1044 or (805) 568 2390.