The 5 Best Home Title Protection Services in 2023

Who Offers the Best Home Title Protection in 2023?

Your home title is more than just documentation of your ownership — in the wrong hands, scammers can use your home title to take out loans against your property, steal your equity, or even illegally rent or sell your home.

That’s what happened in Broward County, Florida after a trio of identity thieves stole $12 million worth of homes from elderly victims by using fraudulent deeds, identities, and court documents [*].

While home title fraud isn’t as well-known as phishing scams or credit card fraud, it’s still a growing problem. According to some estimates [*]:

In the United States alone, losses from home title theft are expected to top $1.4 billion in 2023.

Using a home title monitoring service is one of the few ways to protect your title from scammers and fraudsters — but not every service is worth your money. 

In this guide, we’ll explore the best home title protection services and show you how to safeguard your most valuable assets.

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What Is Home Title Protection? Is It Worth It?

Home title protection is a paid service that monitors public records and sends you alerts about any unauthorized changes or suspicious activity relating to your property deeds, loans, and legal materials. 

But how real is the threat of home title theft? 

According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) [*]: 

There were 11,727 victims of real estate and rental fraud in 2022 — leading to combined losses of  $350 million. This makes home title theft the fifth most costly crime in the United States.

Quite often, crooks target vacant rental properties and second homes that are less closely monitored by homeowners. Through impersonation and a forged deed, fraudsters can remortgage the house, sell it, or drain the equity on the property. 

These crimes could damage your credit score, making it harder for you to refinance your properties or take out loans in the future. If title thieves target your home, you may only know about it once you receive letters from the bank — or a new homeowner turns up on your doorstep.

Home title protection services aim to protect your property by alerting you to suspicious activity. However, this won’t stop identity thieves from exploiting you with other scams if they have your personally identifiable information (PII). You need to weigh the costs and benefits of home title theft protection in order to establish if it’s worth it for you. 

🎯 Related: Home Title Theft: Do You Need Home Title Theft Protection? →

Is Home Title Lock the Best Service To Protect Your Home Title?

In short, no.

While Home Title Lock does a good job of marketing its services, the company charges significantly more than other options while providing less security and protection.

Here's why: If scammers have enough information to steal your home title, they can target your bank accounts or attempt to exploit you with different types of identity theft.

Instead of a stand-alone service like Home Title Lock, an all-in-one digital security solution that includes home title monitoring — such as Aura — provides a more comprehensive, cost-effective option.

Here’s a comparison of features and similarities between Home Title Lock and Aura:

The bottom line: Aura’s all-in-one solution provides more comprehensive protection, 24/7 U.S.-based support, and a generous insurance policy for every adult on your plan. All of this comes at a fraction of the cost of services like Home Title Lock. You can try Aura free for 14 days to see if it’s right for you.

The 5 Best Home Title Protection Services in 2023

1. Aura
2. Identity Guard
3. Home Title Lock
4. LifeLock Home Title Protect
5. Deed Shield

You can manually keep tabs on your home title and financial accounts by checking with the county recorder and ordering a free credit report from AnnualCreditReport.com. 

But if you want a service that saves you time and worry, you should consider one of the best home title protection options below:

1. Aura: Award-winning all-in-one protection

As an all-in-one digital security solution, Aura protects your family from a variety of threats ranging from fraud to online scams and identity theft. 

In the past year alone, Aura has been rated the #1 identity theft protection platform by Money.com, TechRadar, Forbes, USNews.com, and more.

In addition to offering the best home title theft protection, all Aura plans include advanced digital security features to protect your entire family from online scams, hackers, and emerging cyber threats.

Why you should choose Aura:

• 24/7 home title monitoring service with fast alerts. Aura monitors your home title and other information contained in public and online records. If someone tries to change the details, you’ll be notified in near real-time with guidelines explaining what to do.
• Award-winning identity theft protection. Aura has garnered multiple industry accolades, including “Best Identity Theft Protection Service of 2023” from U.S. News and World Report (USNews.com). Thousands of people trust Aura to protect them from cybercriminals and fraudsters [*]. 
• Three-bureau credit monitoring with the industry’s fastest fraud alerts. Get alerted quickly if someone tries to take out credit in your name or access your credit file through one of the three major reporting agencies — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Aura’s alerts are 250x faster than other services³. 
• Artificial intelligence (AI)-powered digital security tools. Aura protects your entire family — and all of their devices — from potential threats with its easy-to-use  suite of advanced tools, including powerful antivirus software, an AI-powered scam call and text blocker, a virtual private network (VPN), and a secure password manager. 
• 24/7 access to White Glove Fraud Resolution Specialists. The best home title protection services also provide legal help if someone compromises your property deeds. Victims of fraud can get hands-on support from Aura’s U.S.-based team to help navigate challenges with banks, creditors, vendors, and government agencies. 

Aura plans and pricing: 

Aura offers clear and transparent pricing plans. Simply choose the number of people you want to protect in your household, and you’ll get access to Aura’s entire suite of security features and services. And Aura’s prices won’t increase after your first year (unlike many other providers, such as LifeLock). 

🎯 Save up to 75% with Aura when you use this special discount link. 

Here are Aura’s plans and pricing (using the discount link above) as of September 2023: 

• Individual Plan: $6/month
• Couple Plan (full coverage for two adults): $11.49/month
• Family Plan (up to five adults and unlimited children): $20 month

Note: Aura’s Family Plan also includes family-specific safety features, such as child identity theft protection, parental controls, and up to $5 million in identity theft insurance. 

Our take:

Aura offers an affordable and comprehensive all-in-one solution to safeguard your personal information, assets, and identity. Individuals and families can benefit from the best home title protection service — along with digital security tools, Dark Web monitoring, 24/7 credit monitoring, and more.

2. Identity Guard

Identity Guard shields against home title theft and identity fraud. With a Trustpilot Rating of 4.4 stars based on 4,466 reviews, ​​Identity Guard has protected 38 million people from threats since launching in 1996.

Key features of  Identity Guard:

• Home title monitoring. Prevents scammers from exploiting your home equity by tracking the Dark Web and public records for suspicious activity.
• Near real-time alerts. Stay abreast of any attempted changes to your property deeds and online records. A team of fraud specialists is also on hand to help if you need customer support.
• Online identity dashboard. Identity Guard makes it easy to keep track of your assets by monitoring credit files and investment accounts, and provides a risk management report.

Identity Guard’s plans and pricing:

Identity Guard offers three different pricing tiers depending on the type and level of protection you require. However, home title monitoring is currently only included with the Ultra Plan (noted below), which also includes three-bureau credit monitoring, Experian CreditLock, and White Glove Fraud Resolution support. 

Here are Identity Guard’s plans and pricing as of September 2023:

• Ultra Plan: $17.99 per month (individual) and $23.99 (family)

Identity Guard doesn’t offer a free trial but includes a 60-day money-back guarantee on all annual plans.

Our take:

Identity Guard provides robust protection against identity theft and other forms of financial fraud. However, some features, such as home title monitoring, are not available on the cheaper plans.

3. Home Title Lock

This app has made a name for itself as one of the best home title protection services, thanks mainly to its signature TripleLock™ Title Protection. Home Title Lock claims to be “the leader in home title fraud protection” and has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) [*]. 

However, it’s important to remember that Home Title Lock only protects your home title. The company won’t help protect you from identity theft, fraud, or scams. 

Key features of Home Title Lock:

• 24/7 home title monitoring. Constantly monitors some of the largest public databases, and runs fraud checks with county clerks and major title databases.
• Urgent fraud alerts. You’ll get timely alerts if anyone attempts to make unauthorized changes to your home title. If there is any sign of tampering, you’ll find out quickly with 24/7 email alerts.
• Title restoration support. If you fall victim to fraud, Home Title Lock’s Restoration Team can liaise with lawyers and fraud experts to help you recover from the crime and restore your title.

Home Title Lock’s plans and pricing: 

All Home Title Lock members get access to the same features, but the price varies depending on the payment plan. The monthly protection plan starts at $19.95 per month, while you can save money on The Premium Protection plan with an annual payment of $199.

Our take:

Home Title Lock offers industry-standard protection against title theft. However, behind the clever TripleLock™ Protection name, you get essentially the same core features that most leading providers offer — 24/7 monitoring, urgent alerts, and title restoration services. 

For the price, you’re better off looking at an all-in-one provider that also helps protect you against other forms of identity fraud. 

4. LifeLock Home Title Protect

LifeLock Home Title Protect is Norton's dedicated service for protecting home equity from fraud. This service can monitor an unlimited number of properties that you own, including vacation homes and rentals. 

Key features of LifeLock Home Title Protect:

• Constant fraud monitoring. LifeLock will alert you when someone applies for a new loan, credit card, or other lines of credit against your property. It also alerts you if there is a notice of default or foreclosure.
• U.S.-based identity restoration specialists. If you are targeted, you’ll get expert advice on next steps as well as help to recover your identity and handle any legal proceedings.
• 24/7 live member support. A U.S.-based team is available around the clock through the LifeLock website if you have questions or need assistance. 

 LifeLock Home Title Protect plans and pricing:

LifeLock Home Title Protect is a stand-alone product priced at $9.99/month or $99.99/year. 

For existing LifeLock customers, the service can be added to plan packages for an additional $4.99/month or $49.99/year.

Our take:

You can use LifeLock Home Title Protect as a stand-alone service to combat the threat of title fraud. Dedicated identity restoration specialists and comprehensive monitoring make this software a solid line of defense.

However, if you need identity theft protection beyond just home title monitoring, it’s a good idea to research other options.

5. Deed Shield

A Florida attorney and title agent created this app to monitor all deed transactions and ownership transfers. Homeowners can get instant alerts and assistance if anything fraudulent happens to their property files.

Key features of Deed Shield:

• Extensive monitoring sources. Deed Shield constantly monitors key databases, including county public records and the websites of county property appraisers and tax collectors.
• Legal defense. Each active member can receive up to $25,000 toward the costs of legal protection to recover from the impact of deed fraud. 
• Personal touch. As a smaller company, Deed Shield promises not to hand off customers to agencies or middlemen. The founder is a real estate attorney who wants to offer homeowners ideal protection. 

Deed Shield plans and pricing:

This basic app is a cost-effective option. There is one monthly plan for $9.99/month.

Our take:

While the best home title protection services typically have well-known brand names, Deed Shield is an affordable, under-the-radar tool that combats deed and mortgage fraud. The company can help elderly homeowners protect against deed fraud and mortgage scams — however, it’s still more expensive than some all-in-one options. 

Home Title Monitoring vs. Home Title Insurance

When you want to protect your property from crooks, you may be unsure whether you need monitoring services or insurance coverage. 

What’s the difference?

• Home title insurance is a one-off fee, often paid during a real estate purchase. Adding a title insurance policy is a normal part of the home-buying process. The insurance company gives homeowners financial protection for backdated property title conflicts and disputes which may have occurred before buying the home. For example, if you discover that a lien or lawsuit arises after the sale, you can use the insurance to protect your assets. 
• Home title monitoring is a subscription-based protection service that tracks activity related to property titles. Title monitoring services provide homeowners with real-time alerts and ongoing protection for their property titles. For example, if an imposter forges your deed and lists your home for sale, monitoring services can help you detect the crime and regain the title.

The key difference is that home title insurance offers you protection against fraud that happened in the past, while home title monitoring will protect you against fraud that may happen in the future.

The Bottom Line: Home Title Lock Isn’t Enough

Home title theft and real estate fraud are growing, and anyone is at risk who doesn’t have protection. Stand-alone home title lock services are better than nothing, but they don’t solve all of the potential issues associated with identity theft and home title theft.

If you fall victim to home title theft, you can file an identity theft report with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). But this reactionary step is just one part of a long recovery process. It’s much wiser for property owners to take a proactive approach. 

With Aura, you can enjoy peace of mind knowing that you’re protected by a comprehensive suite of protective features:

• Award-winning identity theft protection, including 24/7 three credit bureau monitoring, plus rapid fraud alerts that are up to 250x faster than other providers.
• Home and auto title monitoring. Aura monitors both your home and auto titles and sends alerts if there are any unauthorized changes.
• Dark Web monitoring scans the internet in real-time and alerts you if any of your property details are circulating on the Dark Web.
• Up to $5,000,000 insurance coverage for eligible losses due to identity theft, such as deeds, credit cards, and passports.
• White Glove Fraud Resolution Specialists provide U.S.-based 24/7 support to help you navigate challenges with banks, title companies, mortgage lenders, and government agencies.

Get 360° protection against fraud and scams. Try Aura free for 14 days.