Task Force Taking on Philly House thefts
Just in the last year, complaints of deed fraud in Philadelphia shot up 75 percent. In fact, the competition to acquire houses whose owners are deceased has gotten so aggressive that people have attempted to steal the same house.
The Fraudulent Conveyance Task Force, created under the Philadelphia Bar Association, reconvened to tackle the outbreak of house thefts.The Task Froce is using legal and administrative solutions to respond to these crimes and seeks to pinpoint where in the system these thieves are able to create fake documents and dupe innocent victims that they own a property that belongs to someone else.
Members of the Task Force include the city of Philadelphia's Department of Records, Law Department, District Attorney's Office, and Police Department. Other members of the Task Force include state and local elected representatives, government officials, private and public interest attorneys, notaries, title insurance companies, and community organizatons.
These members have expressed their concern that notary stamps are easy to copy and manufacture and that stamps are often stolen and used by an impersonator. They have recommended that record keeping and reporting requirements should be beefed up.
Also discussed is whether the state law that governs deed recording can or should be amended to allow for greater detection and rejection of fraudulent deeds. However, the Task Force realizes that recommendations for reform must carefully consider the unintended consequences of holding up the deed-recording logjam of thousands of documents and the possibility that valid deeds might inadvertently be rejected and impact the ability of citizens and businesses to reliabily buy and sell real estate.
Another suggestion to help stop the city's housing fraud is for the city to check deeds by routinely calling notaries to verify their oversight of sales; another suggestion is the creation of a reliable list of contact numbers or emails for notaries.
City Records Commission James Leonard is moving to keep a digital record of notaries, according to attorneys working with the city to combat the fraud problem.
The Fraudulent Conveyance Task Force, created under the Philadelphia Bar Association, reconvened to tackle the outbreak of house thefts.The Task Froce is using legal and administrative solutions to respond to these crimes and seeks to pinpoint where in the system these thieves are able to create fake documents and dupe innocent victims that they own a property that belongs to someone else.
Members of the Task Force include the city of Philadelphia's Department of Records, Law Department, District Attorney's Office, and Police Department. Other members of the Task Force include state and local elected representatives, government officials, private and public interest attorneys, notaries, title insurance companies, and community organizatons.
These members have expressed their concern that notary stamps are easy to copy and manufacture and that stamps are often stolen and used by an impersonator. They have recommended that record keeping and reporting requirements should be beefed up.
Also discussed is whether the state law that governs deed recording can or should be amended to allow for greater detection and rejection of fraudulent deeds. However, the Task Force realizes that recommendations for reform must carefully consider the unintended consequences of holding up the deed-recording logjam of thousands of documents and the possibility that valid deeds might inadvertently be rejected and impact the ability of citizens and businesses to reliabily buy and sell real estate.
Another suggestion to help stop the city's housing fraud is for the city to check deeds by routinely calling notaries to verify their oversight of sales; another suggestion is the creation of a reliable list of contact numbers or emails for notaries.
City Records Commission James Leonard is moving to keep a digital record of notaries, according to attorneys working with the city to combat the fraud problem.
