Can someone really steal the title to your home?

Savvy thieves are able to forge documents, commit fraud, and steal the title/deed to your home, potentially to sell the property to someone else and reap the proceeds, or use their fraudulent ownership to access a lending tool and extract the home’s equity.

What type of crime is stealing property?

Under Penal Code 484 PC, California law defines the crime of petty theft as wrongfully taking or stealing someone else’s property when the value of the property is $950.00 or less. Petty theft is a misdemeanor punishable by probation, fines, restitution and up to 6 months in county jail.

How are people using stolen identities to steal houses?

Instead, she and her partners in crime used stolen identities or “straw buyers” (people who are paid for the illegal use of their personal information) to purchase these homes. They then pocketed the money they borrowed but never made any mortgage payments.

What happens when someone steals your house from your family?

Then, they steal the owner’s identity, go through the same process of transferring the deed, put the empty house on the market, and pocket the profits. …Or, the fraudsters steal a house a family is still living in…find a buyer (someone, say, who is satisfied with a few online photos)…and sell the house without the family even knowing.

How does a con artist Steal Your House?

…The con artists start by picking out a house to steal—say, YOURS. …Then, they go to an office supply store and purchase forms that transfer property. …After forging your signature and using the fake IDs, they file these deeds with the proper authorities, and lo and behold, your house is now THEIRS.* There are some variations on this theme…

Is it a crime to break into a house with the intent to steal?

[13] For housebreaking with intent to constitute a crime the breaking must be accompanied by the intention of committing some other crime. In practice that is usually committed with the intent to steal. The intention must have been formed before or ideally when breaking in; see Snyman’s Criminal Law 4th ed.

Who is responsible for stealing from an estate?

The Penal Law. The estate is the owner of the property. When an executor is stealing from the estate, he commits larceny.

What kind of crime is house stealing or deed theft?

Husseini, who owns a home health-care business, was the victim of a lesser-known crime alternately called house stealing or deed theft that has seen an uptick in some areas in recent years. Scammers gain control of a deed to a home and then attempt to resell the property or to open a line of credit on it.

Instead, she and her partners in crime used stolen identities or “straw buyers” (people who are paid for the illegal use of their personal information) to purchase these homes. They then pocketed the money they borrowed but never made any mortgage payments.

Is it common for someone to steal your house?

House-stealing is not too common at this point, but we’re keeping an eye out for any major cases or developing trends. Please contact us or your local police if you think you’ve been victimized. * – Since the paperwork is fraudulent, the house doesn’t legally belong to the con artists.