NYC Ramps Up Efforts To Combat 'Deed Theft'
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Deed theft is becoming one of the fastest-growing; your home is taken and the homeowner doesn't even know it because it's on a piece of paper hardly seen.
But as CBS2's Dave Carlin reported, a new effort is underway to help people reclaim their stolen homes.
Andrew Clarke bought and lives in a building in Bushwick, but he says a man he's never met secretly and illegally took it.
"The deed is not in my name anymore," he told CBS2. "Basically just signed my deed over in his name."
Clarke says there was a fake notary and fake signature.
"This is not my signature," Clarke said. "Not even close."
CBS2 tried to find the man whose name is on the deed at the building listed as his address, but as Carlin reported, it appears he just used one of the mail boxes at the building.
"It should not be so easy for someone to sign over another person's deed," Clarke said.
The New York City Department of Finance and City Sheriff's Office teamed up, searching filing papers for red flags, including wrong social security numbers and other irregularities.
"It's very tough to unravel," Maureen Kokeas said, with the Office of Tax Enforcement.
"There really wasn't enough safeguards in place," Joseph Fucito with the NYC Sheriff's Office said.
The city's campaign to fix the system began over the summer, Carlin reported. Now, there are about a thousand cases being looked into, including a dispute over a Harlem building.
Earlean Williams-Golson says a family member secretly took her mother's Harlem home with a deed transfer full of errors.
"You don't think your closest relatives could do this to you but they do," Earlean Williams-Golson said.
Once a bad deed goes through, reversing it takes time and money, Carlin reported.
"Stopping the fraudulent filing is very important," Fucito said.
As the city installs more roadblocks, homeowners are asked to dust off deeds and double check them.
For more information about how to protect your deed and a free notification service from the sheriff's office, visit their website.
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