Scam Alert: Bogus Grant Deeds on Abandoned Homes
By: Diane Tuman, Zillow Content Manager | November 19, 2008
Law enforcement officials are trying hard to snuff out a foreclosure scam in San Diego, CA. According to today’s San Diego Tribune, a scam artist by the name of Maurice Simmons, identifies homes that are abandoned — usually due to foreclosure — then he files official-looking grant deeds with county recorder offices. The deeds are bogus, but county recorder officials say they don’t have time to ascertain their authenticity. Simmons then re-keys the locks, posts these documents in the windows of the homes and turns the house over to people who are looking for a place to live. All along, these people are under the belief that Simmons is the rightful owner of the home. Simmons defends himself by saying,
“Bankers are defrauding people, and all I’m doing with this program is helping people get into homes who deserve to have a home but who got screwed,” Simmons said in interviews before his arrest. “I’m tired of people getting thrown out of their homes and no one seems to care.”
It sounds like a Robin Hood-type story of stealing from the rich and giving to the poor, but the added twist is that Simmons says he’s operating under common law and not judicial law. Alongside the “quiet title” document claiming ownership, he also posts signs on homes declaring “Spiritual Sanctuary” and “No Tresspass.” When the rightful owner shows up — usually after purchasing the home through a foreclosure sale — they find it occupied.
Real estate scams are on the rise, as witnessed by another recent story about an elderly couple in Ohio who seems to have been swindled with a mortgage they didn’t need. Chalk this up as another weird foreclosure story.
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- Categories: Foreclosures
Comments
9 Comments so far
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Caleb on November 19, 2008 5:11 pm
I can’t believe that that’s working. You can just claim a property with no proof of ID. I don’t own property yet, but I thought that the procedure was a little more sophisticated than that.
Caleb (blueprinteconomics.com)
DallasDirt » Blog Archive » What I Learned At Real Estate School… on November 20, 2008 8:45 am
[...] this could not happen in Texas because all properties should be covered by Title Insurance, and those [...]
Zijuzijazijana on November 23, 2008 3:30 am
I’m now four and half years outside of USA due to one of this deals.I barely escaped alive,this sort of transactions are not legal but there is no time for discussion when they come knocking the door.They just remove people without asking any questions.Local government people are at fault and they should be prosecuted for this sort of deals,usually they make money on the side for allowing this to happen,lovely isn’t it?
Daily News “Steals” Empire State Building Through Document Fraud | Zillow® Blog on December 5, 2008 1:48 pm
[...] the Daily News heist was comical, real estate scams are increasing. We ran a post recently about a real estate scam happening in San Diego, in which a guy was finding abandoned homes — probably due to foreclosure — then he [...]
I Love Zillow…. Blog on December 12, 2008 6:23 am
[...] I do now confess a love for Zillow Blog. Dang, those blogsters post some interesting [...]
RaiulBaztepo on March 28, 2009 3:55 pm
Hello!
Very Interesting post! Thank you for such interesting resource!
PS: Sorry for my bad english, I’v just started to learn this language
See you!
Your, Raiul Baztepo
Loan Modification Zoom on May 6, 2009 3:35 pm
I can’t believe that this actually worked. Well, I guess we can give him a B- for ingenuity.
Zijuzijazijana on August 7, 2009 1:17 am
Hi again,
As they say everything is possible.I’m more than five years now in Poland due to this sort of a deal.My advice to you is to make sure to have security system working and don’t open the door to anyone even when you expect company.My security system was given away to my neighbour at the time cause she was “more in need” for that,as people from ADT said.Before I found other people to place security system in my house it was too late.
About the ID,there is so many fake ID-s on the black market,that there is no problem for thieves to get one and pose for anybody they want to pose for.
About abandont houses,there is no such a thing.This houses have to be someone’s property.This someone has to give the news to the ones who live there, that owner of the property has changed and his or her rules are different than previous owner’s were.
Zijuzijazijana
Doof on August 9, 2009 11:20 pm
When I turned 18, my father gave me three words of advice:
1. Never open your door to anyone except when you expect company.
2. Never give away your alarm system, even to the neighbor, even if they are in need.
3. If you get into trouble with bogus grant deeds, flee to an eastern block country for at least 5 years, no less.
I’m 39 now and I’ve followed this advice and have never gotten in trouble.