Category: Deed Fraud
-
It’s a Crime! Deed Theft Crackdown Gets Serious
Deed theft deprives homeowners — and generations that follow them — of the precious home equity they worked so hard to earn. When someone sets out to exploit someone else’s deed, the targets are often seniors, minority households, and people who own debt-free homes in gentrifying neighborhoods. In New York, as of 2024, deed theft…
-
Received an Offer to Have Your Deed Mailed to You for a Fee? Toss It!
This year, Recorder of Deeds Jeanne Sorg has an important message for home buyers in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Look out, Sorg tells homeowners, for deceptive letters mailed to residents from outfits like Property Site. (That’s just one example of the companies who send out these letters, Sorg notes.) The letters at issue say the companies…
-
Deed Theft Should Not Exist
What Does It Take to Safeguard a Title? If you hold the deed, you can’t be evicted, right? True — except if your deed is pulled out from under you by a nasty actor. It shouldn’t happen, but it does. Just ask Dada, a homeowner in Oklahoma City. Someone recorded a quitclaim on Dada’s deed,…
-
Now They’re Holding Titles for Ransom? Here’s How Real Estate Scammers Target Floridians (and the Rest of Us)
St. Johns County, which includes St. Augustine Beach, has plenty of attractive real estate. Just beware the trickster who holds a deed for ransom. One of the seniors who lives in St. Johns sounded the alarm. Some shady firm told her to pay $20K to get her title back. It’s a trend in which local…
-
Register of Deeds Blasts Crooks Who Steal Homes Out From Under Owners’ Funerals
The Register of Deeds of Shelby County, Tennessee recently took to a live television newscast to warn the public about scammers scouring funeral listings and obituaries. They’re looking for dead people whose homes they can steal. They forge deeds. They record bogus title transfers. Once they have control over their ill-gotten homes, criminals sell them,…
-
Ahoy There, Matey! Look Out for the Title Pirates
We all know about porch pirates… but look out for title pirates. They’ll take your whole porch. Title piracy is deed fraud. It happens when someone uses a deed to deliberately take over someone else’s real estate. It’s an unusual crime, but according to the National Association of REALTORS® (which cites FBI figures), it’s been…
-
Guilty Pleas in Long Island: Heirs Recover Their Stolen Deeds
Two New Yorkers — and one is a former lawyer and a licensed notary — have pleaded guilty to deed fraud charges in New York. The charges involve first-degree scheming to defraud, and additional counts related to forging and filing false documents to take deceased people’s titles in Nassau and Queens. A company run by…
-
Texas Warranty Deed Forgery Plot Thickens
More Houston-area deed fraud victims are speaking out. The alleged perpetrator has already been charged with a first-degree felony of forgery, fraudulent document execution, and theft greater than $300,000, in connection with warranty deeds worth some $15 million. He would forge property owners’ signatures. Then he’d go buy their properties at a deep discount. Investigators…
-
Deed-Stealing Florida Broker Pleads GUILTY
Michael B., a real estate broker, has changed his mind. He’s now pleading guilty in a felony fraud case involving deed theft. In Florida, fraudulent real estate schemes are not unusual. But when a real estate broker in active status is pursued for deed fraud, that’s the kind of case that stands out. Yes, you read…
-
Stay Informed with Snohomish County’s Recorded Document Notification System
Snohomish County Washington is now offering a valuable service for property owners – the Recorded Document Notification System. This free, voluntary system is designed to alert you whenever a document containing your name or tax parcel number is officially recorded.
-
Deed Theft Crackdown: New York’s on a Roll
New York State Attorney General Letitia James is championing a cause near and dear to our hearts: safe and secure deeds. On the last day of July 2023, the A.G. announced an indictment of a Long Island resident for deed theft. Joseph Makhani faces two counts of criminal possession of stolen property and one count…
-
Lee County, Florida Buyers and Sellers: New ID Rule for Deed Filing as of August 2023
After Florida passed HB 1419 to deal with deed fraud in the state, Lee County Clerk Kevin Karnes announced a new requirement for filing a property deed. As of August 2023 and onward, you’ll need a government-produced photo ID if you expect to file a deed in Lee County. Why specifically there? Because Lee County,…
-
Swindlers Beware: Texas Makes Its Move to Head Off “Dirty Deeds”
They call it the dirty deeds law. Recorders of Texas deeds may, as of July 2023, card people who show up to file home deed transfers. Meanwhile, in Arizona, a swindler sold an ill-gotten deed to the Zillow® real estate company. Texas is lowering the boom. The state will now have its deed recorders verify…
-
Quitclaim Forgery Is Snatching Florida Homes From Seniors and Dead People
Some people will steal their own mothers’ homes. In a stunning case of deed fraud, a woman named Wanda donned a wig and pretended to be her own elderly mother, then tried to steal her home in Hillsborough County, Florida. A video recording shows Wanda using the Notarize computer-based notary service, signing a quitclaim deed.…
-
“Deed Theft” Is a Crime, Says New York Legislature
On June 24, 2023, New York’s lawmakers passed a bill to create the crime of deed theft and help New Yorkers hold onto their homes. The state’s Attorney General, Letitia James, has been vocal about the need for new legislation to help keep New Yorkers in their homes. State Sen. Brian Kavanagh and Assembly member…
