Owning a home in this city is a serious achievement and a valuable asset often built up over years. But losing control of it can happen in a New York minute.
Over the last few years, THE CITY has reported extensively on cases of deed theft and scams — unscrupulous moves where people use fraud, forgery and other unlawful methods to take possession of a home, often without the true owner even knowing.
Straight theft is illegal. But there are other, mostly legal, ways property speculators scoop up deeds that New Yorkers should know about, too.
These practices often impact the city’s Black and Latino communities the most, many of which have seen their homes’ worth rise significantly in recent years..
In this guide, we’ll help you understand how deed fraud works, what’s legal and illegal — and how to take precautions to protect yourself either way:
What is deed theft?
Deed theft is when someone takes over the title of a home — represented by a physical deed document — without the approval or knowledge of the true homeowner.
That’s what happened to Johnnie Jackson, as previously reported by THE CITY. Jackson, 64, lived in his family’s three-story house in St. Albans, Queens for most of his life. Then, in 2010, he went to refinance his mortgage through low-rate ads he saw in a newspaper.
But that refinancing company turned out to be part of a federally-investigated scheme to defraud homeowners, according to federal court documents from 2015. Jackson had signed away the rights to this house thinking that they were paperwork for refinancing.
The New York City Sheriff’s office received nearly 3,500 complaints of deed theft between 2014 and mid-2023, according to the attorney general’s office.
Property ownership-related fraud goes beyond just theft of a deed. Criminals could record fraudulent deeds, mortgage records or liens (a document indicating owed debt) on a property without an owner knowing about it. Those situations may be called deed fraud, according to the NYC Department of Finance.
That’s what may have happened in Harlem, where Joseph Makhani was indicted by the attorney general last year for allegedly forging documents claiming he had bought two brownstones worth millions for just $10 each.
New York City has a deadly combination of factors that make deed fraud and theft “particularly pernicious,” said Jacob Inwald, the director of litigation at Legal Services NYC.
“There is a significant population of homeowners at risk of losing their homes due to foreclosures or property taxes, combined with exponentially increasing property values,” he said.
Who is most at risk for deed fraud or theft?
THE CITY has found that speculators in the five boroughs often target homes in rapidly gentrifying historically Black and Latino neighborhoods. Other vulnerable groups include older people and families with no estate plan or will.
Studies show that only about a third of Americans have a will, with Black and Latino people significantly less likely than white people to lock in formal estate planning. That reality means that scores of family homes in nonwhite neighborhoods are prime targets for speculators looking to cash in.
Another group at risk, according to the state attorney general, are people struggling to make payments on their mortgages. Currently, the city Department of Finance puts liens on properties for unpaid property taxes and sells them to privately managed trusts, which can attempt to collect the debt and initiate foreclosure proceedings.
What can I do if I think I’m the victim of deed fraud?
If you think you are the victim of deed fraud or theft, immediately report it to the Sheriff’s Office — at (718) 707-2100 or online — and to the district attorney in the borough where your property is located. You can also call the office of the state attorney general at (800) 771-7755 or by filing a complaint online.
You should also get your own lawyer, according to the attorney general. But beware of hiring a lawyer referred to you by someone who may have a vested interest in your property, the office notes, including realtors. You can also get legal representation through programs such as the Homeowner Protection Program (HOPP), a network of housing counselors and legal service providers throughout New York State.
According to Inwald at Legal Services NYC, one of the most important factors in these cases is timing, as it often takes years for people to even realize that there is something wrong with the deed of their house. The statute of limitations — meaning the legal timeframe in which a crime can be prosecuted — for the criminal prosecution of deed theft recently changed from five years to eight.
How can I prevent deed fraud or theft from happening to me?
There are several key steps you should take that can help protect you from future fraud or theft, according to experts:
- Sign up for the Notice of Recorded Document Program through the city Department of Finance, which automatically notifies you by mail when a new record is filed on your property.
- Check your property’s deed on the Automated City Information System (ACRIS) at least once a year to make sure no fake or fraudulent documents have been recorded there.
- Keep your records safe. Make copies and keep all of your important documents and a list of your heirs — with their names, information and addresses — in a secure spot. Make sure those you trust know where to find them.
- Never transfer ownership of your property, including to organizations like mortgage assistance companies. Trustworthy people or businesses will not ask you to transfer your property rights to them.
- Be skeptical about online ads, phone solicitations, or visits from strangers who promise mortgage modifications or to save your home from foreclosures.
- Have a will. It is the easiest way to transfer the title of your home after your death.
- Do not abandon your property or stop mortgage payments, property tax payments, or water bills, as this is a common way would-be deed thieves find targets. If you are struggling to make payments, get in touch with the Homeowner Protection Program (HOPP), sponsored by the state attorney general’s office, and they can help you connect with housing counseling agencies as well as legal services.
How can I get legal help to make a will or estate plan?
Not everyone absolutely needs a will or trust — direct heir and spousal inheritance is often covered by default estate law — but determining whether you do is something you may need an attorney to figure out. There are many local groups who provide free legal services to help low- or moderate-income New Yorkers sort out end-of-life planning, including:
- City Bar Justice Center, Planning and Estates Law Project | 212-382-6756
- Legal Services NYC | 917-661-4500
- NY Legal Assistance Group, Advance Planning | 212-613-6514
- Center for NYC Neighborhoods Homeowner Hub | 646-786-0888
Time is of the essence, experts say. If your relative on the title of a property has ed away, do not delay in seeking legal help, said Scott Kohanowski, general counsel for Center for NYC Neighborhoods.
Never sign anything without a lawyer’s review. Kohanowski stressed that property speculators are cunning and persistent, and will pressure you to sign documents you may not understand. Do not sign anything without consulting trusted legal counsel.
Be aware: Deed partition actions.
Here’s one more thing to keep in mind: A deed may be shared among those who own a property, including between spouses or relatives, or even when friends live together. It can also be shared when a property owner dies and leaves fractional stakes of the home to living relatives.
Things get complicated if there’s a dispute among those who share ownership of a deed. They may resolve that argument with a partition action — where one owner goes to court to force a sale of the property.
The process of partitioning is perfectly legal. But where it can get tricky for inheritors is when speculators buy those fractional deeds for under-market value. Then, they often will use those fractions of ownership to force the other stakeholders to sell their shares — either by buying them out, or taking them to Housing Court to force a sale.
THE CITY has reported on this practice in our “Deed Finders” series. Since then, Albany lawmakers have made it harder for real estate speculators to force a homeowner into selling their home.
Under a law change in 2024, only those who inherit property can initiate a partition action in court, not real estate investors who purchase shares of property from heirs.
The state has also implemented what’s known as a “transfer on death deed,” a simpler means of estate planning by which a property owner can specify just one person to inherit their property to avoid confusion. This may help heirs avoid Surrogate’s Court.
