Tag: deed theft
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Behind Their Backs: The Pain of Finding Out About Malicious Deed Transfers
From time to time, we talk about deed theft here. But what actually happens, from the deed holder’s point of view? Here’s what it’s like — and how to protect your deed.
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Follow That Land Rover! Deed Thieves in California Brought to Justice
Imagine someone gaining control of your home title through deed theft. Then they take a loan out against your home. Someone you don’t know. A loan never heard about. Then, the scoundrel went out and bought a Land Rover with your property value, and used it to start their own winery. The Land Rover deed…
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It’s a Crime! Deed Theft Crackdown Gets Serious
Deed theft deprives homeowners — and generations that follow them — of the precious home equity they worked so hard to earn. When someone sets out to exploit someone else’s deed, the targets are often seniors, minority households, and people who own debt-free homes in gentrifying neighborhoods. In New York, as of 2024, deed theft…
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Received an Offer to Have Your Deed Mailed to You for a Fee? Toss It!
This year, Recorder of Deeds Jeanne Sorg has an important message for home buyers in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Look out, Sorg tells homeowners, for deceptive letters mailed to residents from outfits like Property Site. (That’s just one example of the companies who send out these letters, Sorg notes.) The letters at issue say the companies…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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.…
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In the News: Struggling and Elderly Homeowners Targeted by Deed Fakery
Imagine a licensed real estate broker — of all people — accused of taking other people’s homes and selling them. Imagine someone deciding to fake a deed to steal the house of an elderly homeowner who’s ill and in a nursing home. These are both real stories, now unfolding in Florida.
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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…
