{"id":1536,"date":"2021-07-16T10:00:32","date_gmt":"2021-07-16T14:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/?p=1536"},"modified":"2024-04-25T23:19:59","modified_gmt":"2024-04-26T03:19:59","slug":"particularly-insidious-update-on-house-theft-in-philadelphia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/particularly-insidious-update-on-house-theft-in-philadelphia\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cParticularly Insidious\u201d: Update on House Theft in Philadelphia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Deed fraud and house theft are particularly insidious crimes because they not only impact the home\u2019s real owner and often their family, but also sap generational wealth from them as well as their communities, driving poverty and desperation.
\u2014 Philadelphia D.A. Larry Krasner, quoted by NBC10 Philadelphia on March 22, 2021.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Something strange happened in Philly early in 2014. The late\nNorman Johnson signed a deed from the grave, transferring a South Philadelphia\nrowhouse for only $15,000 to Amen Brown. Dawn Presbery, the daughter of the deceased\nand the home\u2019s real owner, fought for two years to recover the deed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In some cases like this, the D.A. prosecutes, and the person\nnamed on the deed ultimately has to sign a new deed to restore the title to its\nrightful owner. Here, the forgery was pursued in the criminal courts, but the\ncase against Brown was thrown out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brown claims to have parted with the $15,000 at the urging of a scammer on Craigslist. But regardless of Brown\u2019s story, as Max Marin noted for <\/a>Billy Penn<\/a><\/em>, it\u2019s astonishing that even criminal charges didn\u2019t induce Brown to return the house title to its rightful owner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas finally ordered the forged deed returned to Dawn Presbery. Later, with remarkable chutzpah, Brown won an election to Pennsylvania\u2019s House of Representatives, assumed office on December 1, 2020, and set out this year to pass tough-on-crime bills and to defend the rights of homeowners to keep their homes<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Tangled Webs of Harm<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Stealing deeds from the dead<\/a>\u00a0is surprisingly common in the gentrifying regions of Philadelphia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are forgery cases, and they often create tangled webs\nof harm. When someone forges the late owner\u2019s name and has the signature\nnotarized, the heirs lose the house and its accumulated value. When the house\nis flipped to a buyer, there\u2019s a new deed holder in the chain. New buyers may\nmove in and start investing in repairs. Then the heirs notice something is\ngoing on. All at once, the heirs and the buyers are pitted against one another.\nThe forger, by then, has skittered off to the next opportunity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forgery makes a deed void. But the heirs need legal help to\npursue a quiet title\naction<\/a> in court, prove forgery, have the illicit deed set aside, and\nhave a new need notarized for the record. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The buyers also need legal representation. The heirs are\nwresting the home back from them \u2014 now with repairs done, and maybe new\nfeatures added \u2014 while the buyer who paid for it all is stranded without a\ndeed. Needless to say, these cases are harrowing for all involved. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The city District Attorney\u2019s Office includes an Economic\nCrimes Unit that goes after some of the most brazen deed thieves. On its\npayroll is an elder justice lawyer who oversees cases vulnerable older\nhomeowners. Among recently prosecuted cases:<\/p>\n\n\n\n