Real Estate Transactions Authorization Device and Method of Use Thereof

The present invention relates to a novel real estate documents identification and verification device and associated system and method. The device includes a fingerprint scanner for scanning a fingerprint of a user for displaying properties tied to the user. The device stores the property documents and fingerprint(s) in an internal memory thereof and a touch-based display screen for displaying the property documents. In some embodiments, the device is configured to transfer the captured fingerprint onto the property documents for performing an authorized transaction. The device can be used for selecting a property and verifying a user as an authorized user of the property. The device is designed to ensure that a property is tied to a person via their fingerprint to eliminate any fraud.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to the field of biometric verification devices. More specifically, the present invention relates to a novel desk unit for collecting fingerprints of users and use them for identifying and verifying real estate transaction identification. The device ties fingerprints of a user to a property deed or any other notary document therefore, preventing any dispute and enables transaction processing only after positive identification through fingerprints. The device stores fingerprints and documents in a secure and encrypted form. Accordingly, the present disclosure makes specific reference thereto. Nonetheless, it is to be appreciated that aspects of the present invention are also equally applicable to other like applications, devices, and methods of manufacture.

BACKGROUND

By way of background, a real estate transaction is the process that occurs when a seller offers their home or any other property for sale, and a buyer agrees to purchase that property. Such transactions may involve a real estate professional. Closing a real estate transaction requires multiple steps. The steps vary depending on the type of transaction and state regulations. Before the closing can take place, and before the title of the property transfers to the buyer, a multitude of activities and tasks must be completed on time.

Real estate frauds are very common across the globe and the crime of real estate fraud occurs when one person in a real estate transaction makes false representations of relevant information to another person in the transaction. Some individuals engage in fraudulently selling a property. A seller can make false statements to a buyer about a property they are selling or, a seller can fail to tell a prospective buyer an important fact about the condition of the property they are selling in order to make the sale. Current systems and methods do not provide relevant and correct information to homeowners and realtors and they may have trouble with others getting information on properties and ultimately stealing them.

Individuals do not have systems to verify the identity and ownership of the seller (and of buyer) before preparing and authorizing a real estate transaction. As a result, individuals also lack the means to fight for their property rights in court with a lawyer. A lot of money and time are wasted in getting the authorization and verification done during a real estate transaction.

Individuals often use duplicate or forged signatures to commit real estate fraud. There does not exist an efficient means to protect against such forged signatures in the current systems. Individuals desire an improved way of authorizing real estate documents.

Therefore, there exists a long-felt need in the art for a device and system that provide an easy way of verifying authenticity of real estate property documents. There is also a long-felt need in the art for a method that can be used by property sellers, buyers, realtors, and authorities to prevent real estate fraud. Additionally, there is a long-felt need in the art of a way for only authorized individuals to transact real estate properties. Moreover, there is a long-felt need in the art for a device that eliminates requirement of manually signing property documents. Further, there is a long-felt need in the art for a device that improves authenticity of real estate transactions. Finally, there is a long-felt need in the art for a unique system that offers a way for positive identification of a user before a real estate transaction can be finalized.

The subject matter disclosed and claimed herein, in one embodiment thereof, comprises a fingerprint enabled real estate transaction authentication device. The device can enable a positive identification of a user before a transaction can be finalized and offers a way to transfer the image of a fingerprint scan onto a property deed. The device further comprising a touch-based display screen for displaying property deeds, the display screen is also configured to receive one or more inputs from a user, a fingerprint scanner for capturing one or more fingerprints of users, an internal memory for storing fingerprints of users and property deeds, a printer for printing property deeds, wherein the display screen is configured to display property deeds of a user whose fingerprint is successfully authenticated, the displayed property deeds are retrieved from the internal memory and further, for transacting a real estate transaction, the captured fingerprints are transferred to the displayed deeds and are stored in an internal memory of the device. The transactions are only processed when fingerprints are authenticated thereby eliminating any unauthorized users for the real estate property transactions.

In this manner, the real estate transaction verification device of the present invention accomplishes all of the forgoing objectives and provides users with a desk unit that collects fingerprints and enables them to be used for real estate transaction identification and verification. The device ensures that a property is tied to an authenticated person via their fingerprint so any disputes with the deed cannot be fought and only authorized users can perform a real estate transaction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The subject matter disclosed and claimed herein, in one embodiment thereof, comprises a real estate transaction identification and authorization device. The device is designed as a fingerprint enabled signing desk device or kiosk for capturing fingerprints of users. Upon successful capture of fingerprints, the device is configured to display details of the properties on a display screen, wherein the properties are transacted by the user whose fingerprints are captured, thereby enabling only authorized users to transact properties. The device is also configured to transfer captured fingerprints of one or more users associated with a property or notary document being displayed on the display screen for verifying and processing a real estate transaction. The device has an internal memory for storing the captured fingerprints and property details including at least location, size, transaction history, and owners.

The subject matter disclosed and claimed herein, in one embodiment thereof, comprises a fingerprint enabled real estate transaction kiosk device. The kiosk device further comprising a touch-based display screen for displaying property deeds, the display screen is also configured to receive one or more inputs from a user, a fingerprint scanner for capturing one or more fingerprints of users, an internal memory for storing fingerprints of users and property deeds, a printer for printing property deeds, wherein the display screen is configured to display property deeds of a user whose fingerprint is successfully authenticated, the displayed property deeds are retrieved from the internal memory and further, for transacting a real estate transaction, the captured fingerprints are transferred to the displayed deeds and are stored in an internal memory of the device.

In yet another embodiment, a real estate transaction authorization device is disclosed. The device features a display screen for receiving inputs from a user and for displaying real estate documents, a fingerprint scanner for capturing fingerprints of a user for authorizing and verifying real estate transactions, an internal memory, the display screen further displays an option to retrieve one or more real estate documents from an internal memory of the device, an attest documents option to transfer captured one or more fingerprints of the user to displayed real estate documents wherein the transferred fingerprints are used for verifying and authorizing the real estate transactions.

In yet another embodiment, a real estate transaction identification device is disclosed. The device features a display screen for receiving inputs from a user and for displaying real estate documents; a fingerprint scanner for capturing fingerprints of a user for authorizing, authenticating, and verifying real estate transactions; the display screen is configured to display a property transacted by a user whose fingerprint is successfully captured and authenticated; and, the device transfers the captured fingerprint onto the property deed of the displayed property for transacting a real estate transaction.

In yet another embodiment, a method for performing an authorized transaction of a real estate property is described. The method includes the following steps : (1) displaying the property on a display screen of a fingerprint enabled device; (2) capturing a fingerprint of a user using a fingerprint scanner of the device; (3) authorizing the captured fingerprint of the user; (4) transferring the captured fingerprint on a property deed of the property upon successful authorization of the fingerprint of the user; and, (5) displaying the property deed with applied fingerprint of the user.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

As noted above, there is a long-felt need in the art for a device and system that provide an easy way of verifying authenticity of real estate property documents. There is also a long-felt need in the art for a method that can be used by property sellers, buyers, realtors, and authorities to prevent real estate fraud. Additionally, there is a long-felt need in the art for a way for only authorized individuals to transact real estate properties. Moreover, there is a long-felt need in the art for a device that eliminates the requirement of manually signing property documents. Further, there is a long-felt need in the art for a device that improves authenticity of real estate transactions. Finally, there is a long-felt need in the art for a unique system that offers a way for positive identification of a user before a real estate transaction can be finalized.

The present invention, in one exemplary embodiment, is a real estate transaction identification and authorization device. The device features a display screen for receiving inputs from a user and for displaying real estate documents, a fingerprint scanner for capturing fingerprints of a user for authorizing and verifying real estate transactions, an internal memory, the display screen further displays an option to retrieve one or more real estate documents from an internal memory of the device, an attest documents option to transfer captured one or more fingerprints of the user to displayed real estate documents wherein the transferred fingerprints are used for verifying and authorizing the real estate transactions.

Referring initially to the drawings,FIG.1illustrates a perspective view of one potential embodiment of real estate transaction identification device of the present invention in accordance with the disclosed architecture. The real estate transaction identification device100of the present invention is designed to assist with storage and verification of personal identification with real estate transactions. The device100is designed in the form of a kiosk, wherein the users may identify themselves with a fingerprint scan. Also, the device100helps in transferring a fingerprint image onto a property deed and the like, thereby authorizing the documents without requiring a user to manually sign the documents. More specifically, the device100has a display screen102for displaying property deeds, other documents, and different options such as attesting the document, capturing fingerprints, and more as illustrated inFIG.3. The display screen102can be in the form of a touch screen and can use any conventional display technology including, but not limiting to, LED, LCD, OLED, and more.

A biometric scanner104is positioned beside the display screen102for capturing the fingerprint of a user. The scanner104is a robust biometric fingerprint scanner device tailored to operate for multiple commercial, civil, and government applications. In one exemplary embodiment, the scanner104is a scratchproof optical scanner, but can also be any of capacitance scanners, ultrasonic scanners, and thermal scanners in different embodiments of the present invention. In one embodiment, the biometric scanner104detects a user when the user touches or presses the fingerprint scanner104with a finger. In other embodiments, the fingerprint scanner104detects the user when the user's finger is within proximity of the fingerprint scanner104.

An internal memory106of the notary device100is used for storing an image of the scanned fingerprint of a user. The internal memory106is also configured to store property deeds and other notary documents in digital format such that a document for which a user is authorized is retrieved from the memory106and displayed on the display screen102. The internal memory106may include random access memory and/or non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic disk storage devices, one or more optical storage devices, and/or flash memory. The internal memory106may store an operating system (not shown), such as LINUX, UNIX, OS X, WINDOWS, or an embedded operating system and more.

In addition to the touch interface of the display screen102, the device100also has a keyboard108for providing input to the device100. The keyboard108can be used for selecting one or more options offered by the device100for easily verifying and including fingerprint on the property documents and other deeds. The keyboard108can be a physical keyboard or can be a touch-based keyboard. For additional security of the device100and an additional means of verifying a user, a webcam110is positioned on the device100for recording video of a user using the device100. In some embodiments, the webcam110can be used for video identification of a user before enabling the user to access a document displayed on the display screen102.

For accessing physical documents by a user, a notary document printer112is integrated into the device100. The printer112is designed to print in an appropriate format required by the authorities and an appropriate format can be selected by a user. It should be noted that the print option is accessible to a user only after successful biometric authentication of the user.

FIG.2illustrates a flow diagram depicting a process of retrieving and displaying documents by the automated notary device of the present invention in accordance with the disclosed architecture. Initially, when a user places one or more fingers on the biometric scanner of the device, the fingerprint information is received by the device (Step202). Using the image processor associated with the scanner, a digital fingerprint image of the user's fingerprint is created for processing and authentication (Step204). Then, authentication of the fingerprint image is performed by comparing with stored fingerprints in the device or at a remote server (Step206).

In situations where the authentication is successful, at step208, the transacted documents of the user are retrieved from the internal memory of the device. In the next step, the retrieved documents are displayed on the display screen of the device for user processing (Step210). One important advantage of the device of the present invention is to display the details of transactions, dates, amount, and any other conditions related to the documents being displayed on the display screen. Such details are either displayed simultaneously or can be selectively displayed upon input of a user (Step212). In situations where the authentication is unsuccessful, an error message is shown to the user, thereby preventing unauthorized access of documents to a user (Step214).

FIG.3illustrates an exemplary user interface shown by the display screen102of the authorized notary documents kiosk of the present invention in accordance with the disclosed architecture. The touch display screen102is configured to display a plurality of options for users to perform actions regarding retrieval and verification of regulatory documents such as property deed, tax documents, and more. It should be noted that the plurality of options displayed on the screen102can vary depending on the regulations in a specific geographical area.

As illustrated, retrieve documents option302allows a user to retrieve the already transacted documents of a user whose fingerprint authentication is done successfully. The documents are stored in a secured manner using encryption. Based on the successful authentication of a user, the associated documents of the user are retrieved and are decrypted using a public decryption key generated on the successful fingerprint authentication. The report option304allows a user to report any mistake in the documents of the user and accordingly, a notification can be sent to regulatory authorities for correcting the incorrect information.

An attest documents option306allows a user to transfer the scanned fingerprint upon a document for approval and authorization. The digital fingerprint provides a secure way of signing a document such as a property deed and can be used for legal remedies and prevention of fraud. The attest documents option306eliminates the requirement of a user to manually sign the documents and thus prevents forgery.

The device100can be used by real estate owners, agents, authorizers, regulatory individuals and more and accordingly, for use of the device100, a role can be selected using the role selection control308. The documents which are approved or transacted by a user of the device100can be displayed on the display screen.

An advantage of the device100is that only authenticated users can transact a property such as a home, a business, and the like. A property can be selected using the physical address or using any location identification technique such as Global Positioning System (GPS) by selecting property selection control310. The authenticated users such as designated owner, legal representative, or more can transact the property, thereby eliminating any fraud or illegal transactions.

FIG.4illustrates a flow diagram depicting a process of transferring a fingerprint of a user on a notary document for authorizing a transaction using the notary device100of the present invention in accordance with the disclosed architecture. As illustrated, initially, a document is displayed on the display screen (Step402). The document can be scanned or uploaded or alternatively can be retrieved from an internal memory of the device100. Further, the document can be any property document, regulatory document, notary document, and the like.

For applying a fingerprint for digitally signing and authorizing the displayed document, selection of attesting document control is done by the user (Step404). One or more fingerprints of one or more users can be applied to a document as required per regulations. Thereafter, fingerprints of one or more users are scanned (Step406) and digital images are appropriately positioned on the document (Step408). In some embodiments, the device100may automatically detect the positions on the document for applying digital signatures. The displayed document is scanned to identify blocks for user attestation and accordingly, fingerprints are transferred.

The authorized documents are then updated and are stored in the internal memory of the device100(Step410). Further, the updates are also notified to the concerned regulatory authorities as described inFIG.6. During storage in internal memory, a check is done on the background verification of users and in case, any negative background information is identified, the users involved in the transaction are notified to enable a safe transaction.

FIG.5illustrates a flow chart depicting a process of performing a transaction for a property by authorized individuals using the real estate transaction authorization device in accordance with the disclosed architecture. Initially, a property is selected for display using the display screen (Step502). The property can be any home, business, or any other type of property listed in a specific geographical area. The selected property is then displayed on the display screen (Step504). Any publicly available and non-confidential information such as size, address, and more may also be displayed along with the property.

For performing transactions upon the property, a fingerprint is scanned of one or more users wanting to perform a transaction upon the property (Step506). Then, the device100authenticates the fingerprints by comparing one or more scanned fingerprints with the stored fingerprints associated with the displayed property (Step508). In situations where the authentication is successful, papers associated with the property are displayed for processing and the transaction can be continued by authorized users (Step510). In situations where the authentication is unsuccessful, the authorized fingerprints are required to be scanned for processing of any transaction.

FIG.6illustrates a functional block diagram showing the network connection of the real estate transactions kiosk device of the present invention with external servers in accordance with the disclosed architecture. The device100can be connected to an external cloud server602for storing all the confidential documents and fingerprints in a secure and encrypted manner. The server602can be coupled to a plurality of such devices installed at a plurality of places such as different cities, states, and even countries. The server602may include, but are not limited to, personal computers, laptops, mini-computers, mainframe computers, any non-transient and tangible machine that can execute a machine-readable code, cloud-based servers, distributed server networks, or a network of computer systems. The server602can be realized through various web-based technologies such as, but not limited to, a Java web-framework, a .NET framework, a personal home page (PHP) framework, or any web-application framework. The server602can be maintained by a storage facility management authority or a third-party entity that facilitates service enablement and resource allocation operations.

The device100is coupled to a communication network604for connecting to external servers. The communication network604may include, but not limited to, a wireless channel, a wired channel, a combination of wireless and wired channel thereof. The wireless or wired channel can be associated with a data standard which can be defined by one of a Local Area Network (LAN), a Personal Area Network (PAN), a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN), Wireless Area Network (WAN), Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a satellite network, the Internet, a fiber optic network, a coaxial cable network, an infrared (IR) network, a radio frequency (RF) network, and a combination thereof. Embodiments of the present invention are intended to include or otherwise cover any type of communication channel, including known, related art, and/or later developed technologies.

Using the communication network, the device100is also connected to regulatory databases606to receive and transmit transaction information for official records. All the additional details such as fees, date, etc. are also updated.

Certain terms are used throughout the following description and claims to refer to particular features or components. As one skilled in the art will appreciate, different persons may refer to the same feature or component by different names. This document does not intend to distinguish between components or features that differ in name but not structure or function. As used herein “real estate transaction authorization device”, “real estate transaction identification device”, “device”, “notary device”, and “real estate transactions kiosk device” are interchangeable and refer to the real estate transaction authorization device100of the present invention.

Notwithstanding the forgoing, the real estate transaction authorization device100of the present invention can be of any suitable size and configuration as is known in the art without affecting the overall concept of the invention, provided that it accomplishes the above-stated objectives. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the real estate transaction authorization device100as shown in the FIGS. are for illustrative purposes only, and that many other sizes and shapes of the real estate transaction authorization device100are well within the scope of the present disclosure. Although the dimensions of the real estate transaction authorization device100are important design parameters for user convenience, the real estate transaction authorization device100can be of any size that ensures optimal performance during use and/or that suits the user's needs and/or preferences.