{"id":6662,"date":"2025-07-18T06:44:31","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T10:44:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/?p=6662"},"modified":"2025-07-18T06:44:32","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T10:44:32","slug":"loan-shark-takes-deed-during-refinance-and-the-target-fights-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/loan-shark-takes-deed-during-refinance-and-the-target-fights-back\/","title":{"rendered":"Loan Shark Takes Deed During Refinance, and the Target Fights Back"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Loan<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A Brooklyn woman recently left her home \u2014 and not by choice. Vira Lynn Jones mistakenly signed her deed over to a loan shark a few years back, when trying to refinance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She fought the culprit in court. She\u2019s been fighting for three and a half years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the court hasn\u2019t backed her up. Now, she and others in her shoes are demanding that the Brooklyn authorities take action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Brooklyn District Attorney\u2019s Office Replies<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The DA’s office insists it is <\/em>taking action against deed theft. It\u2019s managed to get a conviction just last month, forcing a scammer to return 11 properties to their rightful owners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, following a campaign by the state\u2019s Attorney General’s office, New York state now names a specific crime of deed theft<\/a> in its law. It\u2019s part of New York\u2019s ongoing work to help protect New Yorkers\u2019 deeds and homes.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Community organizer Evangeline Byars isn\u2019t satisfied. She says the office hasn\u2019t been responsive to thousands of people \u201cwho have reported theft\u201d earlier, and never recovered their deeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s shocking to think that this ugly form of exploitation continues to plague people in one of the largest, most organized cities in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disorder in the Court<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Vira Lynn Jones, who has long owned a legal, four-unit brownstone, spoke before the City Council this June. She described a surreal experience with corrupt lenders from a company named Majestic Crown. She explained that the company pushed her property title into a deceptive foreclosure case, through which it sold the home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She recounts frustrating attempts to seek help from the legal system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Authorities have dismissed her, she says, because the home is categorized as a foreclosure. New York City agencies, she said, \u201clook at me and it says foreclosure\u201d and then they refuse to help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And when she has pleaded with the Superior Court for a temporary restraining order, the judge has ruled for the swindlers \u201cevery single time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jones\u2019s testimony revealed the terrible psychological, physical, and financial effects of deed theft. Jones also detailed a very frightening set of tactics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMental and Psychological Terrorism\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Jones describes an inside look at a “well-organized, well-oiled criminal enterprise\u201d targeting senior deed holders and those who cannot get loan approvals through conventional, big-bank channels. Swindlers sniff these people out, and apply \u201cmental and psychological terrorism\u201d to get them out of their homes, Jones says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among other things, Jones testified, all this occurred:<\/p>\n\n\n\n