{"id":2843,"date":"2023-03-13T11:11:22","date_gmt":"2023-03-13T15:11:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/?p=2843"},"modified":"2024-04-25T23:18:09","modified_gmt":"2024-04-26T03:18:09","slug":"in-the-news-struggling-and-elderly-homeowners-targeted-by-deed-fakery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/in-the-news-struggling-and-elderly-homeowners-targeted-by-deed-fakery\/","title":{"rendered":"In the News: Struggling and Elderly Homeowners Targeted by Deed Fakery"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Imagine a licensed real estate broker \u2014 of all people \u2014 accused of taking other people\u2019s homes and selling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imagine someone deciding to fake a deed to steal the house of an elderly homeowner who\u2019s ill and in a nursing home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are both real stories, now unfolding in Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Tampa: A Real Estate Broker Is Charged With Concocting Fake Deeds\u2026<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Why? All the better to snatch homes from people struggling with their property taxes!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Detectives started investigating the fraud scheme in January 2019. In January 2023, the authorities arrested and jailed a suspect, a licensed real estate broker. The broker has pleaded not guilty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Investigators charged the broker with targeting at least six abandoned or distressed properties. Local news reports describe a string of forged signatures, a bogus notary stamp, fake deeds, and even faked mortgage payoff letters. The fraud scheme also involved people pretending to be witnesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fake deeds passed ownership rights into names that the broker allegedly controlled. Investigators believe the broker then borrowed against these properties or sold them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Local news stations reported that the properties\u2019 total value amounted to $1,071,000. They believe the broker bagged at least $327,000. Their investigation continues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the Stolen Tampa Properties Has Been Successfully Recovered.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The above-noted scheme caught John Whitt Jenkins in its net. Someone forged Jenkins\u2019s signature on a deed. The county recorder of deeds accepted the filing \u2014 which showed the home, then worth about $350K, going for less than half its value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NBC\u2019s Shannon Behnken in Tampa reported: \u201cIn an instant, he no longer owned his house and received nothing in return.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Twenty-five years back, Jenkins bought a piece of land in Pinellas County, Florida for $15,000. And then, with his own hands, he built a home on the land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2019, when checking in on his home value at the Zillow website, Jenkins saw evidence of a sale. Shocked, Jenkins asked the county if it had video footage of his deed being filed. The answer was no; the transaction was done online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A fraud investigation began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Jenkins, it paid to spot the strange transfer soon. In just four months, Jenkins managed to get his beloved home back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miami: Plot to Sell Bedridden Senior\u2019s Home Is Foiled<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In February 2023, the Miami-Dade County authorities arrested a fellow named Tom. In a case of grand theft, fraud, and elder exploitation, reports NBC 6 News<\/em>, Tom attempted to sell an 86-year-old\u2019s house. The senior lies ill in a nursing home. Tom pretended to be her son.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wrongdoer knew his victim. But not all fraudsters know their targets. They can get the information they want through online record systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tom and an accomplice lied about their identities to a notary public. And then, Tom carried a false Florida ID, a forged home sale contract, and other bogus documents into a title company in North Miami, planning to sell someone else\u2019s home for a half-million dollars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the people at the title company spotted a few red flags. And they called the Miami-Dade police. At that point, the police department’s undercover real estate fraud detectives got busy. They nabbed Tom in the act of trying to pick up his payment. So, that\u2019s a little more good news in the deed fraud scene. The quick-thinking title professionals managed to keep the deed in its rightful owner\u2019s name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But this is a wake-up call to homeowners to check their county property records. Plenty of fraudsters<\/a> are after Florida seniors\u2019 increasingly valuable homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u261b<\/em> <\/strong><\/em>No matter where you live, why not take a peek at our tips on how to <\/em><\/strong>protect the seniors you know from deed theft<\/em><\/strong><\/a>?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s Not Just Florida. Ask Letitia James, Attorney General of New York.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Late last year, Attorney General Leticia James announced the indictment of five people for grand larceny, money laundering, and other charged crimes. What happened? Three senior-owned homes were sold by deed fraud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the indictment:<\/p>\n\n\n\n