Beware of unsolicited letters offering to purchase properties

Area residents are seeing a flood of unsolicited mail from people seeking to purchase their properties, often at greatly discounted amounts.

We are seeing a lot of letters like this,” said Jaymi Kohn, Taylor County Register of Deeds. She said people come into her office with the letters and they have received a number of calls asking about them.

“The bottom line is that it is just an offer to purchase and can be ignored or shredded unless a person wants to sell their property,” Kohn said.

Kohn said she has received quite a few letters like that. “When I do a little research on the company, they always have a “mail and package store” address with no physical address found,” she said. In addition when checking with the Better Business Bureau, the BBB either has no rating or they are rated very poorly.

“Quick searches of reviews for the company turn up poor reviews. Everything is fishy. I shred the paper and move on,” she said.

Luke Dixon, of Dixon-Greiner Realty in Medford agreed. He said the companies get ahold of large address blocks through various public records and will send out the mass mailings. He said they may send out several thousands of them at one time, but may get one or two who are interested in selling and take them up on the offer.

In some cases people are looking at disposing of land they own, such as land acquired through inheritance but they live far away or are unable to maintain it. In these cases, he said it is always better to contact a local real estate agent rather than going with an offer to purchase from outside the area since the local agents will have a better sense of the local market and demand and will be able to get the property owner the best price for their parcel.

Regardless, people should use caution with any unsolicited offers to purchase and even if they are interested in selling their property, they should consult with an attorney or real estate professional before signing any documents.

“The best advice I have is “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” Kohn said.

If people are concerned that the letters may be fraud they should contact the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture Trade and Consumer Protection toll free at 1-800422-7128 or through email at datcphotline@wisconsin. gov. They may also contact the Wisconsin Department of Justice at 1-800-998-0700.

You can report potential scams to the federal government through the Federal Trade Commission which is online at consumer.ftc.gov or can be reached by phone at 1-877-382-4357 (between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. Eastern Time.)

Government agencies use reports of scams to track scam patterns. They may even take legal action against a company or industry based on the reports.