A HOMEOWNER has allegedly had their house sold off behind their back for less than $1 – and they say the fraud is astonishingly easy to carry out.
Caroline Sauer discovered that her late father’s home had been signed over to her ex-husband, using her own signature.
Victor Rodriguez, 50, and his new wife, 33-year-old Michelle Cherry, are accused of forging “quitclaim deeds” on homes in Florida.
A quitclaim deed is a document transferring ownership of a property without the owner’s consent.
They cost as little as 70 cents in processing costs, meaning scammers can forge signatures and walk away with someone’s home for under a dollar.
Most states do not have many laws that make this type of crime more difficult.
“We found out that the titles of my father’s properties had all changed through quitclaim deeds,” said Sauer to local Fox outlet FOX13.
“We questioned, how did this happen? Who forges a deceased person’s signature? Who does that?”
In addition to allegedly taking his former father-in-law’s house in Miami-Dade County, Rodriguez, along with Cherry, are accused of forging records to take claim of another home in Tampa.
Larry and Dreama Bilby, whose home was under construction and unoccupied at the time, were stunned when they learned their property no longer belonged to them.
They were told in February this year that they had supposedly walked into the Hillsborough County Clerk’s office and signed over their home.
“I was so angry, I almost couldn’t talk,” she told FOX13.
Cindy Stuary, Hillsborough County Clerk, said that the forgery requires just “a notary and two signatures with an address listed next to them.”
Rodriguez and Cherry, who were arrested in March, both pleaded not guilty to the fraud charges.
How can your home be sold without your consent?
Your home can be sold from under you for various reasons - here are three key things to look out for:
Tax Sale
- A tax sale is the sale of property by a governmental entity to recover unpaid taxes by the owner who has reached a certain point of delinquency in their owed payments.
- Before a tax sale takes place, there is a right-of-redemption period where the owner can pay off their debt and reclaim their home.
- Each state has different laws surrounding tax sales but in most areas, the basic requirement is that adequate notice is given to the owner to pay the outstanding money, and any sale must be open to the public.
Foreclosure
- Foreclosures can take place when lenders take control of a property after borrowers have failed to make their repayments.
- Borrowers will receive a Notice of Default, triggering the foreclosure process.
- Homeowners in HOA communities can also see their homes foreclosed by their HOA for falling behind on fees.
- This means that even if you keep up with mortgage repayments, you could still lose your home if your HOA has a lien on your property.
- When such a foreclosure takes place, the sale price only needs to be enough to cover the HOA debt meaning that properties can be sold for much less than they are worth.
Property Fraud
- Criminals can use a fake or stolen ID to impersonate a homeowner in order to sell or mortgage homes.
- Typical targets for property fraud include absent owners like landlords, owners who live abroad, and sole owners of unmortgaged homes.
- The U.S. Sun previously reported on a man whose vacation home worth $300,000 was sold by criminals for just $9,000 – they even had the deed to the property.
His attorney said in a statement, “We have filed a written plea of not guilty on his behalf.
“Mr Rodriguez maintains his innocence, and our office is entrusted with the responsibility of protecting his rights.
“Because his case is under active litigation, he is protected by both work product privilege and attorney/client privilege.
“We are responsible for ensuring justice and fairness in legal proceedings, protecting Mr Rodriguez’s rights, and upholding the rule of law.
“We cannot provide any further comment that might adversely affect our representation of this client.”
Stuart says she is pushing for tougher legislation to clamp down on quitclaim deed frauds, but she has also warned her clerks to look out for any suspicious behavior from potential scammers.
She said details such as “misspelled names, addresses that don’t appear that they actually exist, misspelled cities,” could all be signs of fraud.
Sauer says she is still fighting her ex-husband to get her father’s house back.
The family has hired a handwriting expert to prove that she didn’t sign the deed.
“The hardest thing for us emotionally has been, we’ve just tried to protect my father and his legacy,” she said.
