Scam mailers disguised as mortgage 'final notices' trick elderly into fake coverage

Millions of homeowners, especially elderly ones, receive official-looking letters with 'FINAL NOTICE' or 'ACTION REQUIRED' headers that mimic mortgage company correspondence, pressuring them to call a number and purchase a home warranty immediately or 'lose coverage.' These are from unlicensed companies that collect premiums but deny every claim or simply disappear. This persists because property ownership records are public, so scammers can target new homeowners and elderly residents by name and address, the FTC lacks resources to pursue thousands of small-dollar fraud operations, and victims are too embarrassed to report the scam or assume it was a legitimate bill they forgot about.