A County Takes On the Con Artists. Will Families Recover Their Houston Deeds?

Houston spans four counties. The most populous among them, Harris County, is dealing with a stunning rash of deed fraud.

The county has filed court actions charging a slew of defendants over a wide-ranging scheme. Houston families are now hoping to regain control of their deeds following the move by Abbie Kamin, the Harris County attorney.

Who Are These Scammers and How’d They Pull It Off?

The family home of Keata Wade is the focus of one of the legal actions. Located on Teton Street, it’s been in the family for generations. Wade said she and her sister were planning renovations when they found out their deed had been misappropriated.

Current Harris County records show Keata Wade’s home as owned by Antia Martinez. Now, Martinez is a defendant.

Investigators believe defendants created a false warranty deed by impersonating a Wade family member. Then they could transfer the deed again—this time, to Martinez.

Harris County Attorney Abbie Kamin has publicly named nine people alleged to have forged deed paperwork. Some of the victimized families are well-to-do. Some are struggling. But Kamin said the countywide investigation found common elements in the scheme. Investigators found forged signatures, made-up identities, and worse: “notaries who were oftentimes tricked into putting their seal on documents that they never should have touched.”

In some cases, deed holders who’d died were impersonated. The deeds were taken before the heirs knew what hit them—during their time of grief.

Kamin said that after the defendants took control of the deeds, they went on to sell some of the homes. Other homes were put up for rent to innocent people of Houston.

The swindled deed holders themselves pressed the county to act. Now, the Harris County Attorney’s Office is publicly asking more people to call if they think they’ve been targeted. And Kamin is asking all deed holders: check your deed, update your will, and file the updated will with the county’s probate court.

Deed Fraud’s Ripple Effects: Victims Accumulate

Through the two lawsuits (so far), these people stand accused of perpetrating fraud against at least ten deed holders. But that’s not all. Yes, some of the homes implicated in this pair of legal actions have already been resold to innocent parties who had no idea the sellers were perpetrating fraud.

Attorney Kamin acknowledges that there are several wronged groups: the targets and the buyers caught in the ripple effect. The county is working to obtain justice for the original deed holders and the innocent third parties as well.

Keata Wade hopes that Kamin succeeds. She wants her home restored to her family. She points out that the reason the home was in her family at all was the hard work of her grandmother, who was devoted to providing for her descendants.

It’s Not Halloween Yet. Who’s Been Masquerading as a Harris County Inspector?

Meanwhile, in the same county, a mother-son duo is under arrest after a months-long investigation. The mother, Tiffany, is alleged to have impersonated a Harris County inspector to baffle an 87-year-old with dementia.

Jennie Hitt lived in her northwest Houston home for decades. Her grandson told the media that Jennie was vulnerable on account of cognitive decline. The elderly homeowner gave up her deed for just ten dollars, according to the KHOU 11 media outlet in Houston.

The suspects are charged with elder exploitation and felony theft.

Allegedly, Tiffany visited Jennie at home late last year. Tiffany not only pretended to be a code enforcement officer but also promised to bring the elder deed holder financial assistance. Jennie’s grandson would later learn that the poser got Jennie to sign power of attorney documents. Then, the swindler created a warranty deed, forged the notarization, and recorded the instrument in Harris County. The records show the home, worth $207K, went for ten dollars.

With a “Friend” Like This…

Jennie had a fragile independence, having lived alone for many years. When the self-identified code inspector came along, Jennie thought she had found a supportive friend.

Jennie’s grandson called Houston law enforcement. In December of last year, according to court filings, Houston’s Financial Crime Division sent investigators to visit Jennie’s home. Sitting in front of the house was a car with a County Inspector sign stuck on it. Now, the so-called county inspector and her son are accused of plotting to unload the home at a time when Jennie had fallen and was hospitalized.

About the arrest that followed the Harris County investigation, Jennie’s grandson expressed relief. He said he didn’t know if the day would ever come.

Jennie Hitt now lives in continuing care. Her grandson says her stolen home has been re-deeded to her. It took a civil action in court to get it done. The family is now coping with attempted appeals against the court’s decision.

With so many parties so badly impacted by deed fraud, this kind of crime can’t just be handled through punishment after the fact. Harris County is expected to change its policy involving deed-related impersonation, forgery, and theft in the wake of the multiple recent investigations.

What’s Happening Here? Doesn’t Texas Law Already Have Legal Deed Protections?

Yes. The state recently enacted S.B. 15. This new Texas law requires photo IDs from anyone who walks into a county office with a deed to record. And it empowers county deed recorders to turn people away if the filing doesn’t look legit. It supports victims’ rights and gives state prosecutors heavier tools to catch deed criminals by officially criminalizing real property fraud and real property theft.

But as we’ve said here on earlier occasions, this law won’t stop Texas deed swindlers overnight.

Republican Congressmember Pete Sessions of Texas is pressing for federal support. Democrat Bill Foster has joined Sessions in drafting a new proposed law to “strengthen America’s digital identity infrastructure” and to weaken impersonators and deed thieves.

For states that opt in, the proposed federal Stop Identity Fraud and Identity Theft Act would fund state projects to digitize stored ID credentials and deal with the growing threat of AI in criminals’ hands.

The struggle against AI-era identity theft is poised to be long and hard. It’s likely to make various aspects of our identities a lot more available to governments. Expect to see plenty of running arguments for and against.