Tag: deed theft

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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.

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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 that right. This is a case of house stealing by a real estate broker. Licensed by the state of Florida, this person could and did list homes on the MLS. Not only is this person alleged to have stolen and sold other people’s homes; now, he has actually admitted to the scheme. The broker might manage to avoid any jail time.

According to Florida’s state prosecutor, the Tampa-area broker faked deeds and mortgage documents in order to sell ill-gotten titles to innocent people. He also used his stolen real estate to secure loans.

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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…”

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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.

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Heirs, Protect the Seniors in Your Life From Deed Theft

A 91-year-old Floridian recently sent a payment to his insurer. Then the agent called to say the company wouldn’t be able to renew the homeowner’s policy. The deed had been transferred. The home was now legally owned by another person.

Some days later, from his bedroom, this shocked and disoriented senior heard three people come into the home. It seems the perpetrator was trying to sell the house. Fort Lauderdale police are investigating.

The swindled senior paid off the mortgage 15 years ago. Maybe that’s part of the issue. If there were a mortgage lien on the home, the mortgage company would have been alerted to the transfer. Plenty of elders live in homes with paid-off mortgages in Florida, and plenty of fraudulent schemes are targeting their increasingly valuable homes.

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