deed fraud Archives

April 24, 2024April 25, 2024

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 “investment companies” (or run-of-the-mill fraud rings) take the title of a home hostage, for a payoff. Now, St. Johns County officials are warning the public about these real estate ransoms.

April 17, 2024April 25, 2024

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, borrow against them, rent them out, and evict rightful owners.

January 31, 2024April 25, 2024

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 on the rise since the pandemic hit.

January 24, 2024April 25, 2024

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 one of the pair pleaded guilty, too — to possession of stolen property and multiple forgery charges. The implicated real estate business will have to pay a $100,000 fine, and repay rents on the stolen properties. The other member of the pair, a landscaper, could be sentenced to a prison term of up to three years on January 30, 2024.

One of the would-be victims blew the whistle. As reported in the New York Daily News, she got a bad feeling about one of the pair. He walked into a coffee shop to meet her wearing a crumpled suit.

An investigation began. The outcome? The D.A. in Queens, Melinda Katz, announced that the Queens Supreme Court has voided the faked deeds. The ripped-off families are now able to recover their assets.

September 15, 2023April 25, 2024

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 of fraud.

Makhani allegedly filed forged deeds and related documents in order to take two Harlem brownstones. Makhani’s state tax returns indicate that he got these homes for $10 a piece. The actual, combined value of the two buildings? More than $4.7 million.

This isn’t just about property value. Lives were upended. As A.G. James declared, “The fear and confusion unleashed on New Yorkers when they learn their homes have been stolen out from under them is something no one should have to endure…”

July 12, 2023April 25, 2024

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. She signed her mother’s name to take the deed for herself.

In May 2023, the Tampa police apprehended Wanda on counts of forgery and elder exploitation.

A weird and unusual case, surely? Alas, there are quite a few deed scoundrels alive and well in Florida. The state is among the top three for identity theft, according to the 2022 figures from the Federal Trade Commission.