Your Name on a Deed Is a Bullseye

If you own property in your own name, you are not private.

You are visible. Searchable. Targetable.

Every county clerk's office in America publishes a shopping list of who owns what, how much equity they have, and exactly where to find them. Scammers scroll through it like a menu. Attorneys scan it for deep pockets. Predators look for the paid-off homes, the long-time owners, the people who built something worth taking.

And if your name is on the title, you just made their job easy.

I know this because I learned it the most expensive way possible.

Three Reasons You Probably Shouldn't Be Here

Hi, I'm Matt Theriault.

I could write this in the third person and try to sound smarter than I really am, but that's exhausting and you'd see right through it. So let's just treat this like a letter to a friend.

Because in many ways, it is.

I'm over 50 (ouch). I live in Las Vegas with my wife, Mercedes, and our son, Mateo. I've been investing in real estate for almost 20 years. I've built a portfolio without using my own money or credit. I've taught thousands of people how to do the same through Epic Real Estate, my podcast, and my YouTube channel.

I'm a Desert Storm veteran (USMC).

But that's probably not what you're here for.

You're probably wondering: Is this guy worth my time?

For a lot of people, my answer is NO.

Here's why:

1. I'm not here to sell you a magic button

If you're looking for some "set it and forget it" system that makes you invisible overnight with zero effort, I'm not your guy.

Yes, what I'm about to tell you works. Yes, it's powerful. Yes, it will protect you.

But it requires you to actually do something—book a call, have a conversation, make a decision, and follow through.

If that sounds like too much work, close this page and go back to hoping nothing bad happens.

2. I'm going to try to sell you something

Shocking, I know.

Look—I'm a capitalist. I make money by helping people protect their assets, and I'm not going to pretend otherwise.

But here's the deal: I only sell stuff that actually works, and I give you enough free value up front that you can decide for yourself if I'm full of it or not.

I call it the old "Demonstrate You Can Help Them By Actually Helping Them" trick.

Works like a charm.

3. If you think "being a good person" is enough protection, you're not ready

For most of my career, I believed that keeping my word, treating people right, and taking the high road was enough to keep me out of trouble.

I thought lawsuits happened to shady operators—not to guys like me who played fair and delivered on their promises.

I was wrong.

And I learned that lesson in the most expensive, humiliating, and infuriating way possible.

Still Here? Good. Let Me Tell You What Happened.

It was a Saturday in 2016.

My wife and I were having a garage sale. Spring cleaning. Jeans, t-shirt, dirty from moving boxes and furniture around all morning.

A guy walked up the driveway. I figured he was just another bargain hunter looking at our stuff.

Then he asked: "Are you Matt?"

"Yeah," I said.

I had to sit with that envelope—and that number—until Monday.

Here's What Happened

It turned out the person suing me was the ex-husband of a client I had worked with.

Let's call her Lauren.

Lauren had signed up for my top-tier coaching program at a live event. She paid $100,000 to work with me for a year. The deal came with a guarantee: if she didn't earn back at least five times her investment, I'd keep working with her until she did. I'd give her access to my resources, my funding, my deals—everything.

That was the deal. And I delivered.

But her ex-husband accused her of "stealing" that $100,000 from him to pay me. He claimed she and I were in collusion against him.

I had never met this man. I had no idea who he was. Lauren was just a client—no personal relationship, no conspiracy, nothing.

But he saw an opportunity.

See, part of my marketing back then was showing the actual properties I owned—street addresses, numbers, photos. I thought it added credibility. I thought it proved I was practicing what I preached.

And it did.

It also painted a target on my back.

This guy went through public records, found several of my properties, saw how much equity I had, and decided I was worth going after.

He didn't care if he was right. He cared if he could win.

And his attorney? Mean. Nasty. Relentless.

They filed motion after motion. Required us to appear over and over again. The language in their filings was scary—designed to intimidate, to make me doubt myself, to make me think maybe I should just settle and make it go away.

Even my attorney—who was very good—said: "Matt, if this goes to a jury, there's a chance he could win. It just depends on who they believe."

That kept me up at night.

For a year.

The Cost of Being Right

My attorney suggested I settle. Give them $100,000 back and make it disappear.

I refused.

Not because I'm stubborn (okay, maybe a little). But because I had done nothing wrong.

I had fulfilled my obligation. Lauren paid for a service. I delivered that service. There was no collusion, no conspiracy, no theft.

I told my attorney: "I'd rather pay YOU $100,000 to fight this than admit to something I didn't do and hand them a dime."

And that's almost exactly what happened.

After a year of back-and-forth, depositions, filings, and sleepless nights, the case was dismissed.

I won.

But it cost me $55,000 in legal fees to prove I was innocent.

Fifty-five thousand dollars to defend myself against a man I had never met, who weaponized public records to come after my assets because he thought he could.

What I Did Next

After the lawsuit was dismissed, I didn't throw a party. I didn't celebrate.

I just thought: Okay. Let's make sure that never happens again.

So I put everything I owned into trusts.

At the time, it felt like checking a box. Like buying insurance after a fender bender.

I didn't think it was urgent. I thought it was a freak occurrence—a once-in-a-lifetime thing that happened because I got unlucky.

I was wrong about that, too.

It's Not a Freak Occurrence. It's a Hunting Strategy.

I thought my lawsuit was bad luck.

Turns out, it's a business model.

Since 2016, the problem has gotten worse. A lot worse. Counties are broke. Insurance companies are squeezing homeowners. Property taxes are being reassessed multiple times a year. And scammers have figured out that public property records are a gold mine.

Here are just a few stories from the last year:

The Pattern Is Clear

This isn't random. It's not bad luck. It's a hunting strategy.

Scammers, predators, and opportunistic attorneys are combing through public records looking for:

• •Long-time homeowners
• •Paid-off properties
• •Elderly owners
• •Vacant or renovating homes
• •High-net-worth individuals
• •Recent deaths (probate targets)

And if your name is on the deed, you just made their job easy.

The FBI, local law enforcement, and title companies are all saying the same thing: the playbook starts with public property records.

You can't stop people from being criminals.

But you can stop being an easy target.

Why I'm Telling You This

After I moved my properties into trusts in 2018, I went back to building my portfolio and teaching real estate investing.

For years, I focused on offense—how to buy properties, how to use creative financing, how to build wealth through real estate.

But over the last six to eight months, something shifted.

I stopped coaching. I stopped teaching people how to get rich. I started teaching them how not to get poor.

Not because I don't believe in it. I do. I'm still buying properties. I'm still building my own portfolio.

But I realized something: the biggest threat to my audience isn't missing a deal. It's losing what they've already built.

Real estate prices aren't coming back down. Inflation isn't slowing. The government's "solution" to the housing crisis is to pump up demand (easier loans, lower payments, portable interest rates)—which only drives prices higher.

Meanwhile, counties are broke and coming after your equity with multiple property tax assessments. Insurance companies are raising premiums and working hand-in-hand with local governments to squeeze homeowners.

And scammers? They're getting bolder, more sophisticated, and more brazen.

The economy is running away from people who don't own assets.

And if you do own assets, you're a target.

The Defensive Play

I'm not a guru anymore. I'm not here to sell you a course on "how to flip houses" or "get rich with no money down."

I'm a capitalist. I make money by helping people protect what they've built. And I'm not going to pretend otherwise.

But here's the deal: I only offer stuff that actually works, and I give you enough information up front that you can decide for yourself if I'm full of it or not.

So here's what I know:

Anonymity is your best defense.

If your name isn't on the deed, you're not a target.

If a scammer can't find your equity, they can't come after it.

If an opportunistic attorney can't connect you to a property, they can't sue you for it.

And if your assets are titled correctly, your family doesn't get dragged through an 18-month probate nightmare when you die.

This isn't theory. This is how I protect myself. This is how I've protected my portfolio since 2018.

And this is what I'm making available to you.

What the Strategy Call Actually Is

I needed a team that could build the same 'Anonymity Shield' I use, but for regular investors. That's why I partnered with Prime Corporate Services to offer a free Defense Strategy Call.

I've worked with Prime for almost six years. I've referred hundreds of people to them for business entity setups—LLCs, S Corps, C Corps—because they're affordable, competent, and their customer service is rock solid.

Anytime a client had an issue, I'd call Prime and they'd fix it immediately. Every single time. That's why I'm comfortable putting my name behind them.

Here's what happens on the call:

You'll walk away with a clear roadmap. Some people choose to do it themselves. Most people just have Prime do it for them.

At the very least, you'll know exactly where you're exposed and what your options are.

And if you're serious about protecting what you've built, that's the bare minimum responsible thing to do.

Here's What I Want You to Do

Look—I'm not going to beg you to book a call.

You're a grown-up. You can see the threat. You can see the pattern. You can see what's happening to people just like you.

What you do with that information is up to you.

But if you've built something worth protecting—if you've worked for decades to pay off a home, build equity, create a nest egg—then at the very least, you should know where you're exposed.

The call is free. The information is valuable. And what you do with it after that is your decision.

I'm not here to save you. I'm here to show you how to save yourself.

Matt Theriault

Founder, Epic Real Estate

Desert Storm Veteran (USMC)