Date: 04/03/2024 –By: News 9, Deanne Stein
Imagine being evicted from a home you own. It’s happening to one Oklahoma City family, who like you, may be wondering how this is possible. It was through a quit claim deed.
Quit claim deeds are just that, a quick way to change ownership on a deed.
A couple of signatures are notarized on a form and then dropped off at the county clerk’s office.
For Dada, whose last name he wished to not reveal, he did not realize the deed to his home was in someone else’s name until he received an eviction notice.
“I’m like ‘Oh my goodness, this is not us,’” Dada said. “I went to the county assessor’s website, believe it or not, it had that guy’s name as the owner.”
Documents show that someone filed the quit claim deed and is now the owner, buying the home for $10 plus a filing fee. “He took over my home for $28,” he said.
But he said the document was fake, and the notary’s license was revoked. Even the signatures don’t match the original documents. Meanwhile, Dada is still paying the mortgage payments, taxes, and insurance.
“Someone with the stroke of a pen, no one checks it, and your home is gone,” Dada said. “How is this possible.”
Jason Nelson with the clerk’s office says the office is limited in what it can do. “We’re not document examiners we’re not trying to do that, and the statute doesn’t allow us to do that,” said Jason Nelson, Chief of Staff.
However, over the past year, the office has put in some safeguards, checking notary statuses, and following up on tips.
“At the end of the day, if you’ve got a clever enough criminal, they’re probably gonna get away with it, for a while,” Nelson said.
Until homeowners like Dada learn otherwise as he’s now forced to fight for what’s rightfully his. “Please everyone in Oklahoma who owns a property, check your property deed now,” he said.
Dada goes to court on Thursday to fight his eviction. He also has law enforcement involved looking into his case.
Quit claim deeds are just that, a quick way to change ownership on a deed.
A couple of signatures are notarized on a form and then dropped off at the county clerk’s office.
For Dada, whose last name he wished to not reveal, he did not realize the deed to his home was in someone else’s name until he received an eviction notice.
“I’m like ‘Oh my goodness, this is not us,’” Dada said. “I went to the county assessor’s website, believe it or not, it had that guy’s name as the owner.”
Documents show that someone filed the quit claim deed and is now the owner, buying the home for $10 plus a filing fee. “He took over my home for $28,” he said.
But he said the document was fake, and the notary’s license was revoked. Even the signatures don’t match the original documents. Meanwhile, Dada is still paying the mortgage payments, taxes, and insurance.
“Someone with the stroke of a pen, no one checks it, and your home is gone,” Dada said. “How is this possible.”
Jason Nelson with the clerk’s office says the office is limited in what it can do. “We’re not document examiners we’re not trying to do that, and the statute doesn’t allow us to do that,” said Jason Nelson, Chief of Staff.
However, over the past year, the office has put in some safeguards, checking notary statuses, and following up on tips.
“At the end of the day, if you’ve got a clever enough criminal, they’re probably gonna get away with it, for a while,” Nelson said.
Until homeowners like Dada learn otherwise as he’s now forced to fight for what’s rightfully his. “Please everyone in Oklahoma who owns a property, check your property deed now,” he said.
Dada goes to court on Thursday to fight his eviction. He also has law enforcement involved looking into his case.
Read the entire article at the following website link:
How a Moat Title Security Can Help?
This article details some common themes in title fraud including targeting properties that have no liens or mortgages. The fraudulent activity is often the same, forge and record a deed into the criminal’s name (or an identity that the criminal has previously stolen) and either mortgage or resell the property. In this case, the fraudster listed and sold the properties at below market prices. Interestingly, the authorities suggested periodically checking your property in the public records to affirm that the property is in your name, much like checking your credit.
So, what would a Moat Title Security Co. Notice of Title Freeze (NOTF) do in this situation? If a NOTF was placed in the public records for each of the properties that were attacked in this article, a) the fraudster, in his search for properties without existing liens and mortgages, and upon seeing the NOTF in the records, would likely have been deterred from making the attack in the first place and would have simply targeted another property without a NOTF, and b) if the fraudster attacked the properties with a NOTF in the public records the legitimate owners would be in a much stronger position to more quickly and with less cost repair and restore their title in a Quiet Title action given the NOTF was not released of record prior to recording the fraudulent deed. Finally, it is likely that the closings of the resales would have failed as well as the title company conducting the closing would have searched and reviewed the title chain leading up to the fraudulent resale and discovered the recorded NOTF had not been properly released by the prior (legitimate) owner.
A NOTF is similar to a credit freeze at the credit agencies – it is designed to freeze a property title from all future recordings without the owners express and recorded consent which is described in the NOTF and performed by the owner as a Title Unfreeze and Release to allow legitimate business transactions to occur. Much like unfreezing your credit if you are in need of a new credit card or loan.
Learn more about title fraud and Moat Title Security Co’s Notice of Title Freeze at moattitlesecurity.com and follow Moat Title Security Co. on Facebook.
"You should have gotten a Moat!"
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