Philadelphia Homeowner Loses Home To Title Fraud; Cost To Hire Lawyer To Unwind Scam Unaffordable For Victim

A recent story by The Associated Press on the apparent need for strengthening notary laws to protect unwitting homeowners from having their homes stolen out from underneath them by deed/title fraud scammers contained these excerpts on one victim who lost her home and, because retaining an attorney to file a civil lawsuit to undo the theft was unaffordable, was never able to get it back:

• The small row house had been unoccupied for months, but it was still a home. And if she had really wanted to sell it, Virginia Coontz says, she certainly would have spelled her name right on the title transfer. Even with her name wrongly spelled "Coonzt," the sale went through and she ultimately lost the house. Prosecutors said she was a victim of a title fraud ring that collected about $400,000 by selling off more than 80 properties — unbeknownst to the true owners — through the help of corrupt notaries.

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• In 2004, Coontz and her teenage daughter left their home temporarily unoccupied when they moved in with her son. Then, in October 2005, relatives saw people coming and going from the property; Coontz arrived to find her valuables gone and bags full of her other belongings on the sidewalk. A confrontation and several phone calls led to a police report and discovery of the forged deed.

• Behind on her taxes and unable to afford a lawyer, Coontz gave up.(1) The house was sold at a sheriff's auction in 2007 for $15,600. Coontz, 49, now says she is unable to work due to depression. She and her teenage daughter continue to live with her son. She sleeps in the basement, and her daughter, on a living room couch.

Source: Tougher notary laws sought to curb house thefts.

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(1) Unlike auto theft (or any other theft of personal property) where the police will return the stolen property to its rightful owner (if they're lucky enough to physically recover it), no similar parallel exists when property owners have their homes stolen from them, even though the house itself has not been physically ripped out of the ground and absconded with. It is up to the victimized homeowner to retain a lawyer to file a civil lawsuit to legally unwind the mess created by the scammers by:

• voiding the forged deed, and
• where the scammers duped a mortgage lender into giving them a loan secured by the house, voiding the mortgage.

During this time, victimized homeowners must be sure to keep current on the real estate taxes, lest they risk losing the home in a county tax foreclosure. DeedZetaTheft