Gary Man Victim Of Deed Theft; Recent Incidents Creating Near "Epidemic," Say Cops

In Gary, Indiana, the Post-Tribune reports:

• It's a piece of land with a boarded-up brick bungalow across the street from the Emerson School for Visual and Performing Arts. It's worth just $11,000, according to county records, and owned by Allison Linton Clare Jr. of Chicago. But Herod Jackson says it's his, that he planned to fix up the house, but it was stolen out from under him with a questionable quit-claim deed. Financial crime investigators for the Gary Police Department say they are hearing more and more of these complaints. Detective Joseph Moxley said it has nearly become an "epidemic."

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• Jackson took the whole family [who allegedly stole his property] to small claims court last month, hoping to get his property back. Magistrate Michael Pagano dismissed the case, telling Jackson he had to take the case to a superior court. [...] But Jackson said it's not fair that he has to spend money on an attorney to fight his case. "The average poor person does not have the money to hire a lawyer," Jackson said. However, Jackson has filed a complaint at the Gary Police Department, and Moxley said he is continuing to investigate. Similar cases are beginning to pile up, Moxley said, and all of them are time-consuming.

For more, see Property deed theft becoming an 'epidemic'.

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