Manhattan Feds: "Mortgage Stacking" Scam Pulled Off By Corrupt Title Agent

In New York City, the Office of the U.S. Attorney recently announced criminal charges against 41 suspects in eight separate cases involving a variety of mortgage and real estate fraud. The allegations in one criminal complaint describe the conduct of one allegedly corrupt title agent:

• Poui Land acted as the title agent for many of the closings charged as part of this case, generating significant fees for the defendants, including, in one instance, approximately $68,000. In some cases, the Complaint alleges that the defendants failed to record the mortgages on the properties, or to properly transfer the titles, which permitted the defendants to obtain additional mortgage loans on the properties.(1)(2)

For the criminal charges in this case, see Complaint - U.S. v. Johnson, et al.

For the U.S Attorney press release, see Manhattan U.S. Attorney Charges 41 Defendants In Coordinated Mortgage Fraud Takedown Across New York State.(page 6).

(1) Scams involving the fraudulently-obtaining of multiple mortgages on the same property through different lenders (not necessarily done simultaneously), and/or by failing to record the new mortgages and without paying off the existing loans, often go by the label of "mortgage stacking" (When the mortgages are fraudulently obtained simultaneously, the scam is referred to by some as "shotgunning"). The use of bogus title reports in these scams stating that no first mortgage existed on the properties in question is referred to by some as "title washing."

(2) The six indicted suspects are: Beverly Andrea Johnson (aka Beverly Johnson, Beverly Samuels, Andrea Johnson), Carone Johnson (aka Carone Johnson-Holt, Carone Morris), Carianne Johnson, Carell Johnson, Oliver Anderson, Bradley Skierkowski.