The scammers come in many varieties: The slick broker who \u201csaves\u201d a home from foreclosure, only to vanish with the title. The caregiver who exploits an older man\u2019s trust to hijack his deed. The financial whiz who promises a mortgage renegotiation that ends in an eviction.<\/p>\n
Every year, cases like these afflict homeowners across New York City. The schemes are examples of deed theft, a practice in which people fraudulently take ownership of others\u2019 homes.<\/p>\n
Just two days ago, a Brooklyn city councilman was among several people arrested<\/a> at a protest against the crime.<\/p>\n Now, the city is creating an Office of Deed Theft Prevention that will investigate instances of deed theft and try to stamp them out.<\/p>\n \u201cThe theft of a home is the theft of a family\u2019s future,\u201d Mayor Zohran Mamdani said on Friday as he announced the creation of the office.<\/p>\n \u201cDeed theft preys on the New Yorkers who can least afford it. Today, we are bringing the full force of city government to bear to stop it \u2014 to protect homeowners, defend generational wealth and make clear that this City will not tolerate the exploitation of our communities.\u201d<\/p>\n Deed theft has been a particular problem in predominantly Black neighborhoods, where investors can capitalize on rising property values and gentrification.<\/p>\n Mr. Mamdani, who has focused much of his attention on helping the city\u2019s renters, is moving to create the office as he seeks to improve his political standing<\/a> with Black homeowners and their representatives<\/a>.<\/p>\n He appointed Peter White, a lawyer who has worked for more than seven years at Access Justice Brooklyn, a nonprofit group, to lead the office. Mr. White worked on several deed theft and foreclosure related cases at the group.<\/p>\n \u201cMy fundamental goal is to make life better for New York City homeowners,\u201d Mr. White said on Friday, appearing alongside Mr. Mamdani at the Brooklyn Bank, a nonprofit based in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood that helps people build financial independence. \u201cThis is something I\u2019ve tried to do since the beginning of my legal career.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Mamdani said the office would have a budget of $500,000 in the current fiscal year, which ends in the summer, and $1 million in the next. The office is expected to find ways to better educate homeowners on the warning signs of deed theft, as well as connect potential victims with lawyers and law enforcement.<\/p>\n The office will also work on crafting new city and state legislation that could help public officials crack down on the practice.<\/p>\n It will be part of the city\u2019s Finance Department and will coordinate efforts between the housing department, the commission on human rights and more.<\/p>\n While government officials have pursued deed theft cases in recent years, it remains a difficult problem to address. It is not always obvious to homeowners that they have been victims, and years could pass before any offense is reported.<\/p>\n It can also be tough to determine when behavior is criminal and when a homeowner may simply be making a bad decision involving getting rid of their home. And the legal ownership of a home may be murky, particularly if the property was inherited by several different heirs or is in the hands of a guardian or conservator.<\/p>\n The protest this week where the councilman, Chi Oss\u00e9, was arrested, did not center on an actual example of deed theft, according to the state attorney general\u2019s office, but a property dispute between heirs and relatives of the property\u2019s former co-owners.<\/p>\n Still, officials have worked to more effectively address the issue. In 2024, state officials passed a law, known as the Heirs Property Protection and Deed Theft Prevention Act<\/a>, that firmly established deed theft<\/a> as a crime. The law was written in part by Letitia James, the state attorney general.<\/p>\n One government estimate from 2023 found that there were at least 3,500 complaints of deed theft filed over the previous decade.<\/p>\n