ONTARIO, N.Y. – Deed theft is a growing problem across the country and it recently hit close to home for one Wayne County landowner.
“It’s a little piece of New York State that I’ve retained — 8/10 of an acre of upstate…” said Ron Harder, who has owned a piece of land in the town of Ontario for more than 40 years.
Now living in Texas, his plan was to eventually return to the area and build a home where he could retire. But in May, he learned he was the victim of deed theft.
“These people operate in the shadows. They were hoping to pull the whole thing off without me ever knowing,” Harder said.
Using a fake driver’s license and a forged notary signature, the scammer posed as Harder, enlisted a local attorney and the property was put on the market. After a few months, the land sold to Gerber Homes for $35,000. Because he was in Texas, Harder had no idea what was happening to his land. He only learned of the scam when he received a “notice of sale” letter from the Wayne County Clerk’s Office.
“I contacted them immediately and told them that I had not listed my property for sale and this was a fraudulent transfer and that it needed to be reversed,” Harder said.
But it was too late. The deed was recorded and the $35,000 from Gerber was wired to the United Kingdom. It’ll now take a court order to restore the original deed.
“We’re hearing about this, I would say, on a weekly basis. So it’s happening quite often in New York,” said John Kenealy, a member of the New York State Land Title Association, a statewide organization that represents title insurers and agents.
He recommends out of state landowners routinely check on their properties.
“Notify your neighbors, hey have you seen any activity, if you see a for sale sign go up. Maybe even look online, look at Zillow or other websites to make sure your property is not up for sale,” Kenealy said.
Earlier this month, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced charges against two people who stole the home of a dying woman in Queens by forging documents, transferring ownership to themselves. The arrests came after the state passed new laws last year establishing deed theft as a felony crime and giving the AG’s office the jurisdiction to prosecute.
“Deed theft is heartless. It is a merciless crime and it steals individuals’ homes without their knowledge,” James said.
Locally, Wayne County is now in the process of installing notification software to help flag suspicious filings. Kenealy says buyers should also consider title insurance.
“If he had title insurance, the title insurance company would write him a check,” Kenealy said. “The title insurance company would also go to court and get the deed expunged.”
Gerber Homes is also a victim in this fraud and did not have title insurance on the purchase. It’s unclear if the builder will ever be able to recover the $35,000 it paid for the land.
If you’ve been a victim of fraud, the Attorney General’s office has a deed theft email tip line. That address is deedtheft@ag.ny.gov.
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