Is there any personal possession bigger or more precious to one than their car?
Yes. That would be their house.
Even if the owner has passed on or otherwise vacated the home, most would want the home passed on to loved ones, not to a bunch of crooks who stole the deed.
The FBI first reported on this criminal scheme in 2008, calling it the “latest scam on the block,” and coined the phrase “house stealing.” The FBI described the crime as a cybercrime cocktail of sorts, mixing identity theft and mortgage fraud.
The FBI stated that home title theft can generally be summed up in three steps: Thieves find a home they want to target. Thieves commit identity theft to assume the victim’s identity by creating supporting documentation such as a fake ID or Social Security card. The thieves then work through proper channels to transfer the home deed by forging the victim’s name and using the fraudulent documents.
Sadly, house stealing is still prevalent today. On January 10th, District Attorney Larry Krasner and his office’s Economic Crimes Unit (ECU) announced multiple charges against eight individuals for their role in a wide-ranging conspiracy to fraudulently obtain and transfer deeds involving 17 properties located across Philadelphia.
Perhaps to offset the widespread criticism that he is soft on crime, Krasner made a major production of his office’s takedown of what he described as a “sizeable deed theft ring.”
According to the DA’s office,…
