Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller and Councilman Bill Greenlee on Thursday will revive a resolution for a task force to tackle the problem of house thieves, who actually get forge enough documents to convince the city that they are the rightful owner of a property, causing nightmares for the true owner. There were 122 instances of this kind of fraud in 2006 and Miller, whose district including parts of North Philadelphia, Mount Airy and Germantown, has seen a lot of it. The Council members would set up a Task Force to take on the problem because the D.A. doesn't have the resources to do it. See the press release below:
Philadelphia-On Thursday, February, 13, 2008, Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller and Councilman Bill Greenlee will introduce a resolution that will authorize City Council’s Committee on Law and Government to hold public hearings to investigate current policies and procedures relating to real estate transfers and the problem of fraudulent real estate transfers and creating a Task Force on Fraudulent Real Estate Transfers.
There were 122 cases of fraudulent real estate transfers reported in 2006, however this number grossly under-represents the issue since it does not factor the other actions taken by the victim property owners.
Most fraudulent real estate transfers go on for years before being discovered, and by then it is too late. The elderly and infirm are the most susceptible to being victims of these predators.
District Attorney Abraham said, "This is such an epidemic in Philadelphia, we just do not have the manpower to do individual properties," and Budget cuts forced her to reduce the economic-crime unit from 10 to four attorneys; and
Funding for prosecution is necessary and the creation of a Real Estate Fraudulent Transfer Task Force must be created to address previous violations, and new stringent regulations must also be implemented to prevent future thefts. The media is invited.
Comments (3)
I've never even heard of this. Why would thieves want to go to all the trouble of tricking a county recorder into believing that all these documents are real? I guess the complexity and legal language will throw a lot of people off the scent of fraud, though. Just another reason to do away with legal language altogether and start making agreements in normal language, I guess. Too bad about all these homeowners, but hopefully they'll be able to prove that the homes really are theirs.
Posted by foreclosurefish | February 13, 2008 5:42 PM
Posted on February 13, 2008 17:42
What about giving the D.A. the resources to do it?
Posted by Anonymous | February 13, 2008 10:18 PM
Posted on February 13, 2008 22:18
Why not just require all title transfers be made by a licensed Realtor or attorney, like the rest of the United States!?
Posted by BZimmerman | February 14, 2008 6:45 AM
Posted on February 14, 2008 06:45