In 2008, after the death of his mother, Daryl Elise Brown and his two siblings inherited land their parents had purchased in the 1950s, a 0.33 acre lot on Fortune Street in Acres Homes.
“They worked hard to leave a legacy for their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren,” Brown said.
They never built on the land, and it was never for sale.
After receiving a call from a woman in Georgia about a pending sale of the property, Brown was surprised to learn that it had been listed, “For Sale by Owner” on several real estate websites. The woman said she was working as an intermediary between buyer and seller and was looking for the owner, Mr Daryl Brown.
“I said there is no Mr. Daryl Brown, I am Mrs. Daryl Elise Brown. And she says oh my God, I spoke with this person and he is trying to sell this property,” he said. Brown recalls the late October conversation.
Brown filed a report with the Houston police for fraud and identity theft. A real estate agent friend had the various ads removed.
“Immediately they emailed me saying ‘ok we’re removing it’ so I thought it was fine,” said Sherry Haynes of Walzel Properties.
But over the next few weeks three different title companies contacted Brown about someone trying to close on the lot and in one case the sale actually went through Brown and Walzel found a sign for sale a real estate agent and survey stakes on the property.
A real estate company whose sign was on the property and listed in our initial report, said they were listing it for a man who recently purchased the land. House Guide Realty says their client now believes he was misled by someone posing as Ms Brown. The real estate company was not involved in the initial sale of the land which Ms Brown said was fraudulent.
“He legally bought the land through a title company and received a deed of guarantee, which makes him the rightful owner of this land. It’s a title company problem. It is their responsibility to verify the seller and establish who the owner is,” said Cheryl Castillo-Pope and William Pope, brokers and owners of House Guide Realty.
Popes say the title company involved in the original transaction refunded their client the $70,000 he paid for the land.
Brown says the man then turned the property over to his family.
A warranty deed filed with the Harris County Clerk’s Office had a New Jersey notary’s stamp with “Texas” crossed out and New Jersey replaced on the paperwork.
“Due to fraudulent documents, fake signatures from me and my siblings. I don’t see how they erased that, but they did,” Brown said.
Underwriters say real estate fraud has become more common in recent years.
Trent Bailey, president of University Title’s Houston division, said the company teaches escrow agents to be vigilant and aware, which led them to detect a case of fraud with Ms. Brown’s property.
“Our trustee noticed that the notary’s seal and the documents didn’t look legitimate and reported it,” Bailey told KPRC 2 News.
The Harris County Clerk’s Office says it reports potentially fraudulent documents to the county attorney’s office for review, but the document in question in Ms Brown’s case reportedly raised no red flags.
“A scratch on a document does not invalidate it. People can get forms from anywhere (internet, office supply store, library, lawyer or friend). The stripe at the notary only means that the notary was not from Texas, but from New Jersey. The Harris County Clerk’s Office is a registry office only and has a ministerial duty to accept documents for registration,” said Rocio Torres-Segura, communications administrator for the Harris County Clerk’s Office. .
Harris County currently does not offer a service that will alert customers if something has been deposited with their name or property.
Rocio says landlords should regularly check the Harris County Clerk’s system to monitor what’s being filed.
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