Deed Theft Update: Disbarred Lawyer Jailed in New York

The New York Times reports that Sanford Solny, convicted in June in the Supreme Court of Brooklyn (pictured in banner photo), is now in jail. Solny is a disbarred lawyer and real estate investor charged with stealing New York City homes. He is now in jail for probation violations.

“It’s about time,” said Lisa A., who reports signing away her property to Solny in 2012. She was struggling with bills, frightened of losing her home, and believed Solny had come to help.

The news of Solny’s jailing brings up the systemic problems that need to be solved, in a time when a new law in New York has specifically named deed theft as a crime.

Habitual Offender

It was 2018 when Solny first pleaded guilty in New York’s State Supreme Court to possession of stolen property. In 2019, Solny faced sentencing and was allowed to walk free with five years of probation. Solny promptly violated the terms of that probation by stealing another New York City home.

The New York Times began investigative reporting on Solny at that point. This brought Solny’s activities in Brooklyn into the public view. By the summer of 2025, Solny was convicted in connection with 11 separate improper deed transfers.

Solny would tell the struggling homeowners that the lenders who were going to save them financially needed them to move out of the home for the short sale to take place. So they would leave their homes. He would record their deeds under his own name.

Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny K. Chun announced that Solny was found guilty of 13 counts of criminal possession of stolen property, three counts for a scheme to defraud, and one count of grand larceny. This is in addition to Solny’s guilty plea to felony possession of stolen property back in 2018.

Sentencing is due to happen this month, November.

It will be the culmination of years of legal delays. And years of improper self-enrichment at the expense of struggling deed holders.

Solny accumulated other people’s deeds, say prosecutors, by zeroing in on people just like Lisa, who struggled with the cost of living. He told them he was a lawyer specializing in mortgage relief planning. He told them he could arrange short sales with banks. The deed holder would receive funds from the sale proceeds. And then they could get on with their lives — putting their impossible mortgage debt behind them.

When the struggling borrowers signed away their deeds, they believed they were signing onto mortgage relief. But in fact, the mortgage balances typically stayed in their names. Meanwhile, Solny would siphon value out of the homes he took by renting them out to other people.

“Chaos Erupts”:  What Happened in the Probation Hearing

“Chaos erupts in court” said the headline. It was no exaggeration. People had waited years for Solny to finally be sentenced for taking advantage of mortgage debtors and stealing from them while pretending to be saving their generational wealth. People were beyond fed up.

But the sentencing for the summer 2025 conviction, set to happen in October, was delayed. Solny’s lawyer claimed it was not possible for Solny to appear before a probation officer during religious holidays.

Victims were outraged. Some are facing eviction proceedings. And time is of the essence. After all, it’s well known now that Solny has weaponized his time to work against people facing foreclosure — mainly  Black and Hispanic deed holders.

In court, Lisa got a chance to read her impact statement to the judge, the press and the public:

He took away my property; he took away my choice. No home, unaffordable mortgage and obliterated credit.

She was on the verge of foreclosure when she met Solny and transferred her deed to him. She reported receiving a payment of less than $15,000 from Solny, who assured her she’d get a large check after a successfully completed short sale. But that larger payment never came. The home she lost is now worth  approximately $1.8 million, she said.

Solny’s criminal defense lawyer pushed back. The defense lawyer insisted that Solny should not be jailed for the probation violation. The lawyer says his client is in poor health, and it’s insensitive to jail him during a religious holiday. And while Solny admitted making a misrepresentation, the defense lawyer claimed, many victims aren’t telling the full story.

The lawyer for New York’s Department of Probation was not amused. “This is not stealing something from Walmart,” he said in court.

The State Supreme Court judge turned down the defense lawyer’s appeal and adjourned the case until November 10. Until then, Solny is in custody.

Solny Case Highlights Need for Deed Law Reform

Carmela Charrington’s household was targeted by a deed swindler. Charrington would later help to set up the People’s Coalition to Stop Deed Theft. The Coalition points out that the government needs to make changes. Officials often seem unable to assist the targets of deed crimes.

To these advocates, the case of the disbarred attorney Sanford Solny raises these very concerns.

The case of the Sawadogo couple of Brooklyn vividly makes the point. While Solny has been convicted and will finally be brought to justice this month, the Sawadogos are still struggling with a 14-year injustice created in this scheme. They lost their two Brooklyn properties in this mess. They now face eviction.

They reported being assured that their homes would be returned following Solny’s prosecution. The court placed a hold on their property, to legally stop the perpetrator from selling it.

What good was that, when the deed was transferred anyway? Yes, they recently learned that their property located at East 21st Street was sold for about a million dollars despite being under a court-ordered legal hold. (The status of their second Brooklyn property is still unknown.)

Recall that Solny was convicted in June of stealing 11 homes. The victims said they are stunned that the deed to one of their Brooklyn homes could be sold — despite the court-ordered legal hold that was placed on the property to stop this very thing from happening.

“I understood what this man was doing — stealing homes,“ said Rachel Cyprien, of the Black Homeowners Preservation Coalition. Cyprien told the New York Amsterdam News how the system is letting people down. “He took 50 adjournments before he was finally arrested, and he should have been caught a long time ago.”

Indeed.