Floods, offenders & ‘house stealing’: Five free websites homeowners should check out

Dec. 27--Googling "what you need to know as a homeowner" returns a sea of posts about how to handle leaky water heaters, silencing squeaky hinges and what type of soap leaves the least scum on your bathtub.

But do you know how to find out whether thefts are rampant in your neighborhood, or how your home value compares to the one for sale down the block?

What about whether your street might flood when it rains? Do you know how to get early home fraud warnings? Or how to see the reports insurance companies use to set your rates?

While you're wading through online advice from do-it-yourselfers on kitchen remodels and ornamental gardens, don't forget to check out these five free websites every homeowner should know about.

1. Track your home's value and real estate trends on Realtor.com

Realtor.com has a tracking tool that lets you see your home's estimated market value over time, equity, basic mortgage information and a forecast of its future worth over the next five years. It also shows you handy figures about real estate in your neighborhood like the average price of comparable homes, the number of days houses have spent on the market and current list prices. Monthly statistics about rental costs, active listings and the number of homes sold near you are also available.

You can see basic value information by going to www.realtor.com/myhome and typing in your address. For the more detailed view that lets you monitor your home's value and see neighborhood trends, you have to create a realtor.com account. But that's also free.

2. See police activity in your neighborhood on Communitycrimemap.com

LexisNexis, provider of one of the world's largest public-records databases, has an interactive map that lets you see crime activity happening in your town. The information on the map comes from participating law enforcement agencies. It can be customized to show certain neighborhoods, dates, types of crimes (homicide, theft, robbery, shoplifting and such) and where registered offenders live. You also can use it to see reports by police beat or bureau, city council district, ZIP code and neighborhood or homeowners association.

The map is posted at www.communitycrimemap.com. Not all cities participate but it's free for them to do so. (If yours doesn't, LexisNexis suggests you call and ask them to.)

Some agencies don't upload data about some types of crimes -- Wichita police doesn't include rapes, for example -- and sometimes address points on the map are offset to help protect a victim's privacy. The map only displays 500 records at a time. So for the best view of all reports, you'll want to zoom into your neighborhood.

If you're trying to find out where a certain type of registered offender -- like sex or drug -- lives in Kansas, you can do that at www.kbi.ks.gov/registeredoffender. Search the National Sex Offender Registry at www.nsopw.gov.

3. Get your insurance claims history from LexisNexis.com

Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange -- or C.L.U.E. -- reports are kind of like a credit report that insurance companies use to help decide whether to insure you and what it'll cost. They show a snapshot of a person's personal property or automobile claims including dates, information on the type of loss, amounts paid out and policy and claim numbers.

You can use them to help ensure that you aren't being overcharged for coverage -- or to see what claims were made on a house before you buy it.

You can order one free C.L.U.E. report for yourself a year at www.personalreports.lexisnexis.com. Scroll down to the bottom of the webpage and click on "Insurance Report" then pick whether you want to order it online, by postal mail or over the phone. You'll receive your reports by mail in a few weeks.

Prospective homebuyers who want to see a house's claim history should ask the home seller for a copy of their C.L.U.E. report.

You can get a free copy of your consumer credit reports once a year at www.annualcreditreport.com. To see the information LexisNexis has about you in its public records database, request a full file disclosure at personalreports.lexisnexis.com/access_your_full_file_disclosure.jsp.

4. See your home's flood risk on Fema.gov

You can see your neighborhood's flood risk using the Federal Emergency Management Agency's free, interactive flood map. Just type in an address or coordinates at msc.fema.gov and hit search. The map not only shows you what streets tend to flood when it rains (areas more prone to flooding are marked in light blue), but it also can help you decide whether you need flood insurance. (Most basic homeowners insurance policies don't cover damage from flooding, making it one of the most costly natural disasters, according to FEMA.)

The map can be a little cumbersome to read because of all of the codes. But the FEMA Flood Map Service Center provides links to a "How to Read a Flood Insurance Rate Map" tutorial and flood zone definitions on it's frequently asked questions page to help. Those are under "FAQ: General Information."

Sedgwick County government has a FEMA flood map that quickly shows you what areas are in a floodplain at gismaps.sedgwickcounty.org/mabcd/fema.

If you think you need flood insurance, it's available through the National Flood Insurance Program. You can get that through an insurance agent in a participating community. To see if your town is eligible, go to www.fema.gov/national-flood-insurance-program-community-status-book.

5. Protect yourself against 'house stealing' with email alerts

"House stealing," or deed fraud, happens when a con artist transfers ownership of a piece of property out of the rightful owner's name using falsified documents. Generally, a thief does this by stealing a person's identity then filing bogus deed transfer documents with the proper authorities.

Once authorities record the deeds, a fraudster can have you evicted from your home, sell it without you knowing or use it to borrow money. In Kansas, the legitimate owner can't get deed fraud reversed without a judge's order.

There are notification systems out there that can alert people when deed or mortgage activity happens in their name. If you live or own property in Sedgwick County, you can sign up for emailed alerts at www.sedgwickcounty.org/register-of-deeds.

People in other counties or states can check for alert systems with their local land office or see if their county participates on www.propertyfraudalert.com.

Deed fraud isn't new; the FBI has been warning about it for at least a decade. It became a topic of Wichita news stories earlier this year after a Kansas murderer serving life in prison used phony deed transfers to claim ownership of properties including the defunct Joyland amusement park, the former Greyhound bus station and the Wellness Center veterans home.

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