Rogue Notaries In Handcuffs On The Increase; Attestors Often Found At Center Of Home Equity Scams

In California, The Sacramento Bee reports:

• Detectives and prosecutors sorting through the criminal rubble of the real estate collapse are finding a surprising trend: The notary public is, in some cases, the public enemy. Investigators in Sacramento, the Bay Area and Los Angeles say real estate frauds can hinge on a mastermind's ability to find a complicit notary, a person who is supposed to attest to the identity and presence of a person signing a sensitive document.

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• Investigators statewide say they're seeing an increase in the number of notaries in handcuffs. In Los Angeles County, detective Chris Christopher sees notaries wrapped up in plots fit for Hollywood. He investigated one case in which a "career criminal" convinced a notary to let him use her log book and stamp to swindle property. Eventually, the criminal stole that notary's identity.

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• "A notary seal is the most powerful identity theft and fraud tool you will ever find," Christopher said. "You can bring dead people back to life with it." Investigators note a common theme when they run across a crooked notary: When the heat is on, the log book disappears. "Right behind the dishonest notary, then there's the missing journal," said Jeanne Williams, a Sacramento County district attorney's investigator.

For more, including a number of examples of people having home equity ripped off out from under them through fraudulent deed transfers or by the unauthorized use of property as security for a loan or bail bond involving sleazy notaries, see Outlaw notaries making mark amid real estate crisis.

Go here and go here for other posts on deed theft by forgery, swindle, etc. deed theft yahtzee