How can you tell if a data center land buyer is legitimate?

You tell by checking, not by how the buyer looks. Real data center buyers often arrive as a company you have never heard of, with a code name for the project and a request to keep things quiet, which is exactly what landowners are warned about. So the name on the letter tells you little. What separates a real buyer from a bad one is whether they let you slow down, put everything in writing, use your own attorney, and keep every dollar with a neutral third party until closing. A buyer who resists any of those is the warning sign.

Why do real data center buyers look so suspicious?

Because secrecy is normal in this business, and it has been documented many times.

• In Morgan County, Indiana, a project called Project Louie was presented on behalf of an unnamed company. The county had signed a nondisclosure agreement promising to keep the owner’s name private until the deal was done. Google announced it was the developer in October 2025. The investigative reporters who covered it found that such agreements are not unusual.
• In Person County, North Carolina, the county confirmed it had signed nondisclosure agreements with a prospective buyer, and the company’s identity was unknown to the community. An environmental lawyer there described working under an NDA as common.
• In Minnesota, the state utility regulator’s own release described a proposed data center that would be owned and operated by an affiliate of Meta, identified as Amber Kestral, LLC.

Not every company keeps doing this. The Assembly reported that in March 2026 Microsoft said it would stop using nondisclosure agreements with local governments. But an unfamiliar LLC with a project code name is still ordinary, and on its own it proves nothing either way.

What do regulators say to watch for?

State regulators and the FBI have published warnings about unsolicited offers and land scams, and they repeat the same few points.

Offers that are too low. Ohio’s Department of Commerce warned in February 2025 that unsolicited offers, if not managed carefully, could lead people to sell for significantly less than their property is worth. Its superintendent added that an offer that seems too good to pass up may in fact be well below market value.

Pressure to hurry. The same Ohio warning says acting quickly without local advice can have significant consequences. A Pennsylvania land conservation group puts it more bluntly: communications of extreme urgency are a red flag.

Paperwork that looks official. Ohio noted that an official looking form attached to an offer does not make the offer valid or legal.

Closings run their way. In its alert about criminals selling vacant land they do not own, the FBI lists pressure to close quickly and communication only by email, text or internet phone numbers. The Oklahoma Real Estate Commission’s scam alert adds a party who wants to use their own unfamiliar notary or closing company. Those alerts describe fake sellers rather than fake buyers, but the same habits are a warning on either side of a deal.

The FBI also notes that criminals can get a landowner’s personal information from county and state public websites and from companies that sell personal data. A letter that knows your name, your parcel and your acreage only shows that somebody read the public record.

How do I look up the company that contacted me?

Start with the state where the company says it is organized, and the state where your land is. Every state’s Secretary of State has a free business search. Kansas, for example, lets you search by business name, business ID or the name of the person the company registered to receive legal papers.

What you can learn is limited, and it helps to know the limits.

• Oklahoma says its business searches can show the correct name, status, date of registration, registered office address and state of domicile, among other details.
• Texas says it can tell you a company’s name, registered office and status, but that it keeps no information on who owns an LLC, and that the management information it does hold is not necessarily current.
• Kansas says that if you cannot find a business, it may not have filed in Kansas, or it may be a trade name or assumed name, which do not file there.

So a lookup tells you the company exists, when it was formed and whether it is in good standing. It will rarely tell you who is behind it. A company formed last month is not a scam by that fact alone, because developers often form a new company for each project. But a company you cannot find anywhere, that will not tell you which state it is organized in, deserves a hard question.

It is also worth watching the county records for your own land. Ohio State’s agricultural law program suggests checking your county recorder online for deeds or mortgages you do not know about, and enrolling in any alert service that tells you when a document is recorded in your name. The FBI gives the same advice about recorder and register of deeds notification services.

Who should hold the money, and when?

Never the buyer, and never you, until closing. California’s real estate regulator explains escrow as the deposit of documents and money with a neutral and disinterested third party, held in trust until a specific event. In practice that is usually a title company or an attorney. Check them yourself, before any money moves. The same California guide says to check out the escrow holder’s license and record, and to get a receipt for any deposit.

Two patterns from the Federal Trade Commission are worth knowing by heart.

• If anyone asks you to pay up front for a deal to happen, stop. The FTC’s rule is plain: no one legitimate will ever ask you to pay for a promise. Florida’s Attorney General warns specifically about land companies that ask for advance fees.
• If a buyer sends you more money than agreed and asks for the difference back, it is a scam. The FTC says not to accept a check for more than the selling price, and not to rely on money from a check unless you know and trust the person.

How do I keep the sale money from being stolen at closing?

By confirming wiring instructions by phone, using a number you already had. The FBI’s 2025 internet crime report counted more than 24,000 business email compromise complaints, the category that covers fake payment instructions, with reported losses of about 3 billion dollars. It describes one 2025 case in which people closing on a home received an email impersonating their own attorneys and wired more than 449,000 dollars before the FBI helped freeze it.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s advice is to never follow instructions contained in an email, to verify account names and numbers in person or by a phone number you agreed on earlier, and to avoid phone numbers or links in an email. The FBI says to use a second channel to verify any change in payment details. If money does go to the wrong place, call your bank at once and ask it to recall the transfer. The FTC warns that a wire is like sending cash: once it is gone, you usually cannot get it back.

What questions should I ask any buyer?

You do not need to be suspicious to ask these. A real buyer expects them.

• Which company will sign the contract, and in which state is it organized?
• Can that company assign the contract to somebody else?
• Who will hold any deposit or option payment, and can I choose the title company or attorney?
• What do you need to check before closing, and how long will it take?
• What happens to me if you decide not to buy?
• Can I have every term in writing before I sign anything?

Then take the answers to your own attorney. Penn State Extension’s guidance for landowners approached by energy developers is that any legal document requiring your signature should be reviewed by your attorney, and that you should get everything in writing, even phone conversations. Ohio State’s farmland guide adds that verbal agreements to sell real estate are generally not enforceable. If it is not written down, it does not exist.

For what happens after these first questions, read how you sell land to a data center developer.

Where do we fit in this?

We are a principal buyer and site developer, and we would rather you check us than take our word. Powered Land Co LLC is a Kansas company, and you can look us up on the Kansas Secretary of State’s business search. Who we are and how to reach us is on our about page. There is no fee of any kind for talking to us, and you are free to have your own attorney read anything before you sign it. We also say no to most of the land we look at, and we will tell you why.