Deed theft and deed fraud: what the record shows

It goes by many names: deed theft, deed fraud, title fraud, home title theft, a forged deed, a fraudulent conveyance. Predatory deed transfer practices belong to the same family. Each works one of two ways.

• A forged deed. Someone signs the owner’s name on a deed and records it with the county, so the public record shows a new owner.
• A deed signed under false pretenses. The owner signs, but not knowingly. Papers presented as a loan modification, a “rescue” from foreclosure, a buyback deal or help with a tax bill turn out to transfer the home.

Equity theft follows the same path. Once the deed moves, a new mortgage can be taken against the home, and the cash leaves with it.

The homes most often targeted, according to the New York Attorney General, belong to older owners, or are homes where an owner has died and the heirs have not yet taken title, vacant homes, homes in foreclosure, and homes with tax or utility liens.

A stolen deed still has to be recorded, and recording leaves a trail. These are the anomalies that point to it:

• A deed the owner did not sign, or one signed in the name of an owner who had already died.
• A transfer for little or no money, often to a new company with no history, or to a buyer who appears on other transfers.
• A quick second step. Another transfer, or a new mortgage, days or weeks after the first deed.
• A notary or witness who does not fit. A notary far from the property, or the same notary on a run of unrelated transfers.
• Records that stop agreeing. A new mailing address for the tax bill, or a power of attorney nobody remembers giving.
• Timing. A deed recorded while the owner was in the hospital, in foreclosure, or in the middle of settling an estate.

No single record shows deed theft. The pattern does. We use our data and leverage the links and joins between records to uncover the anomalies.

• Every record, joined. Each deed, mortgage, assignment, release, lien and court filing on your property, linked by party, date, amount and signer.
• Across the county. The same buyer, company, notary and lender, traced through their other filings.
• Beside homes like yours. The records of homes with similar filings, set next to your own, so what does not fit stands out.
• Kept current. Alerts when a new deed, mortgage or lien is recorded against your property.

Your document shows each anomaly with the records behind it, dated and sourced, ready for you, your family and your attorney.

Move quickly. Report it here:

• New York City. The Sheriff’s Office at (718) 707-2100, and the district attorney in your borough. More for New York City homes.
• Anywhere in New York State. The Attorney General at 1-800-771-7755 or [email protected], and the Homeowner Protection Program at 855-466-3456.
• Other states. Your county sheriff or district attorney, and your state attorney general.

Undoing a stolen deed goes through the courts. Your document puts every record in front of your attorney at the first meeting, and we can coordinate a referral to an independent attorney. For the latest on the law, see News and updates.