A new scam has been brought to our attention by our local title insurance company. A real estate firm in Centennial is allegedly offering homeowners $300-$5000 in ‘free’ money. They pay you in exchange for your agreement to list your home with them when you sell in the future. There is no obligation to list your home today (or at all), the money is not a loan, you never have to repay it, it’s yours to keep.

But homeowners who respond to the come-on and forget that they agreed to list with that real estate firm find that they owe the firm a 3% fee when the title company discovers the listing agreement recorded against their title–even years later when they listed with another broker to sell.

It’s perfectly legal and any homeowners who respond to the offer should be ashamed of having thought they could get free money without any repercussions, but a homeowner in tight financial straits may not look beyond the money they’re being offered.

The takeaway? If it’s too good to be true, it almost certainly is.