Greg's Corner

Scammer sells own father’s house out from under him

By Greg Collier

A man from the Houston, Texas, area is currently on the run from the law after failing to appear for his court appearance. The suspect had been arrested for allegedly selling properties that didn’t belong to him, including one that belonged to his father.

The suspect’s father allowed his son to stay at the father’s condo. The suspect forged the documents necessary to put the house in his name before selling the condo, and keeping the money for himself. This incident is said to be when the suspect realized he could sell other properties he didn’t own.

The suspect was able to con his way into transferring the ownership of at least two multi-million dollar properties into his name. According to reports, the suspect would forge deeds and notary signatures in order to steal the properties. The plan was to sell the properties for pennies on the dollar before the actual owners could find out. Properties that had no financial liens on them were said to be the suspect’s main targets.

A realtor became suspicious when one of their clients was trying to buy a $5 million property for less than half of the market value. This property was being sold by the suspect, which he didn’t actually own. When the realtor contacted police, they found the suspect was trying to sell another property he didn’t own.

Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident. We’ve posted before about victims who were told to leave their homes after scammers submitted forged deeds to the county showing they were the new owners. We’ve also shared stories about vacant lots being targeted in similar scams. If you own a property outright, you may want to pay attention to scams like this.

Thankfully, there is a way to protect yourself. It’s recommended you go to your county appraiser’s website regularly to monitor the ownership of your property. If your county appraiser does not have a website, you can go to their office. Some counties even have a program where you can be alerted if anything changes on your deed.