Dallas Feds Bag Pair For Allegedly Running Deed-Snatching Racket; Suspects Accused Of Searching For Vacant Homes Abandoned By Financially Distressed Homeowners, Then Hijacking Title By Recording Fraudulent Deeds In Their Names, Followed By Arm-Twisting Efforts Against Foreclosing Lenders By Filing Lawsuits Against Them To Seek Legal Settlements

In Dallas, Texas, The Dallas Morning News reports:

• For two Dallas County men, homes left vacant by owners who defaulted on their mortgage payments presented an opportunity.
  
  But the men were not real estate agents.
  
  Instead, federal authorities say, Melvin Ray Layman and Daylon Esaw hatched a plot to fraudulently take ownership of the homes and sell them.
  
  The two filed forged quitclaim deeds in Dallas County that appeared to indicate the owners sold their homes to them, records show. They then filed lawsuits against banks that held liens on the houses in an attempt to force a legal settlement that would allow them to sell the homes, authorities say.
  
  Instead, both men were charged in a 15-count federal indictment with bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.
  
  Layman, 63, of Grand Prairie, has been released pending trial. He could not be reached for comment.
  
  Esaw, 26, of Duncanville, remains in federal custody after a federal magistrate ruled that he is a safety risk. Esaw has been indicted in two other federal cases. One is sealed and the other involves credit card fraud.
  
  Federal prosecutors said in court records that Esaw is a “major player in schemes involving illegal drugs, identity theft and credit card fraud.” They said he has no legitimate job and has been squatting in a foreclosed house.
  
  Layman, a notary public, leased an office on West Main Street in Grand Prairie. With his help, Esaw created the Galleria Trust to use in the scheme, which ran from July 2014 to September 2015, authorities say.
  
  Esaw researched vacant homes that were in foreclosure proceedings and filed quitclaim deeds with the Dallas County clerk’s office, transferring ownership to Esaw or his trust, usually days before the foreclosure sale. In at least one case, Layman notarized the deed.
  
  Esaw and Layman then filed the lawsuits against the mortgage banks in Dallas County District Court, claiming they were the sole owners, authorities said. The lawsuits were not successful.
  
  The men recruited someone to find buyers for the homes and help with the sales, according to officials.
  
  One of the homes, in DeSoto, is still listed in Esaw’s name, according to appraisal district records.

For more, see Feds say 2 men tried to sell foreclosed homes they didn’t own.