The deed to a house was signed by the owner even though they had died months earlier.
Brenda Booth of Atlanta, Georgia, was shocked to see that a private company owned her late sister’s home and was unable to claim it because there was no way to prove who actually signed the deed.
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Booth’s sister, Claudia Marie, died in January 2022 due to health issues, but the deed to her Clayton County home was signed on April 26, local CBS affiliate TO WANT reported.
Marie had been dead for three months when the deed was supposedly signed by her.
“Uh, she can’t sign a deed three months after she dies,” Booth told WANF.
The new owner is EBA Capital Inc. and full ownership was granted after the papers were signed.
Booth had hoped to sell Marie’s house without any problems, but he soon became the victim of an alleged deed theft.
“It’s generally a pretty routine process: gather the assets, gather the debts, identify the creditors, make your disbursements and that’s it,” attorney Daniel Kalamaro explained in Booth’s case, per WANF.
“That didn’t happen here.”
Real estate attorney James Clifton dissected what could have happened to Marie’s deed.
WRITING THEFT
Clifton explained that deed theft is growing exponentially in Georgia.
This is because Georgia law does not require people to show ID when filling out paperwork for a home.
Clifton is convinced that there must have been some form of fraud in Marie’s act.
“Unless she is Lazarus or this company supposedly received the deed from her [or] sent a notary witness to heaven, there is no way this lady could have signed this deed,” Clifton told WANF.
Even with Clifton’s help, Booth was unable to regain ownership of his sister’s house.
Clifton said local police are not adequately investigating cases of deed theft, even though forging someone’s signature is fraud.
“We reported this to local authorities,” Clifton said.
What is deed theft?
- Deed theft is a form of property fraud in which someone illegally transfers ownership of a property without the owner’s consent.
- It typically involves forging signatures, forging documents, or using other deceptive tactics to gain control of the title to the property.
- Perpetrators may target properties with absentee owners, elderly owners, or those with unclear or disputed titles.
- Deed theft can cause the rightful owner to lose control of their property, leading to financial loss, eviction, or difficulty recovering the property.
- Common reasons for deed theft include property flipping, accessing home equity, or using the property for illegal activities.
- Title theft victims often face legal obstacles and significant financial burdens in recovering their assets and restoring their property rights.
- Preventative measures against deed theft include regularly monitoring property records, safeguarding personal information and seeking legal advice when transferring property.
“They tell us there is nothing they can do about it.
“They say it’s just a civil matter, even if there is forgery, even if there is fraud, that they are crimes.”
Booth was left with little to no answers on how to resolve the situation.
“It’s been really difficult,” Booth said.
“You don’t have anyone to call and say, ‘Am I doing this right? What am I doing with this? How do I do this?'”
Unless…this company supposedly received her deed [or] sent a notary witness to heaven, there is no way this lady could have signed this deed.
James Clifton
“You are alone,” she added.
“It’s been crazy.”
However, a recently introduced House Bill 888, known as the Georgia Not on My Deed Act, wants to require identifications to complete house paperwork.
But it’s unclear whether this will help Booth.
There are no current updates on Booth’s case.
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
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