NEW YORK CITY (PIX11) \u2014 A woman fighting eviction from the home her family has lived in for 60 years has drawn community support and outrage in Brooklyn.<\/p>\n
Carmella Charrington<\/a> and her family say they\u2019ve been victims of attempted deed theft to take their family\u2019s brownstone at 200 Jefferson Ave. in Bedford-Stuyvesant. However, the state says that may not be the case.<\/p>\n \t The Charrington family\u2019s case<\/p>\n Charrington has been in a two-year fight against brownstone developer 227 Group LLC to maintain the home\u2019s deed. The family says Charrington holds the power of attorney for her father\u2019s estate and that he granted her the property. However, her father is under conservatorship. The developer argues that because of the conservatorship, it \u201clegally purchased the property in 2024 via the Fulton County Probate Court.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe transaction was a lengthy process that involved extensive negotiations with attorneys of all parties, including Mr. Charrington\u2019s conservatorship attorney, and approval by the Probate Court, which also denied the current occupant\u2019s claim challenging its authorization of the sale,\u201d a spokesperson for 227 Group LLC said.<\/p>\n A representative for the New York Attorney General\u2019s Office told PIX11 News that it reviewed Charrington\u2019s case in 2025 and determined it was a property dispute between heirs and relatives of the former co-owners, not a deed theft.<\/p>\n However, New York City Council Member Chi Oss\u00e9, who was recently arrested during a protest<\/a> against Charrington\u2019s eviction, has maintained that her case is an instance of deed theft and that not all of her legal measures have been exhausted.<\/p>\n \t \u201cBlack displacement is happening right now in Bed-Stuy and Carmella is one of many Black homeowners battling deed theft in Brooklyn,\u201d Oss\u00e9\u2019s office said in a statement. \u201cNot another Black homeowner should have their home stolen.\u201d<\/p>\n What is deed theft in New York City?<\/p>\n Deed theft is when a \u201cthief takes the title to a home without the homeowner\u2019s knowledge or approval,\u201d according to the New York State Attorney General\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n It can happen through forgery when someone fakes a homeowner\u2019s signature on a deed and files it with the county clerk, or when a homeowner signs their deed over without realizing what they\u2019re signing.<\/p>\n Those most at risk of deed theft include seniors, immigrants, and people of color, especially when the situation involves:<\/p>\n abandoned or empty properties<\/p>\n properties in foreclosure<\/p>\n properties that have tax or utility liens<\/p>\n properties where the homeowner is deceased<\/p>\n heirs who do not legally transfer the title to the property<\/p>\n The non-profit New York Legal Assistance Group also defines deed theft as \u201cthe unintentional or unwilling transfer of a property from the rightful owner to another person or entity.\u201d<\/p>\n Supervising Attorney Julie Howe says scammers will often prey on people who purchased their homes in previously undesirable neighborhoods that are now being gentrified and have increasing property value, such as Bed-Stuy, Williamsburg, Harlem, or the South Bronx.<\/p>\n Howe says some other scenarios of deed theft can include:<\/p>\n Homeowners who were induced by purported mortgage brokers or real estate agents (sometimes with valid licenses, sometimes without) to sign their homes over to an LLC or shell corporation. Sometimes these homeowners were then saddled with \u201ccommercial mortgages\u201d on their properties that were now under the ownership of the shell LLC<\/p>\n Heirs to a property upon the death of the homeowner who unwittingly found that another heir of a portion of the property was induced to sell their portion, usually at an unreasonably low price, to a legitimate or illegitimate investor, LLC, or hedge fund. These heirs can find themselves in partition proceedings to fight either for the right to remain in their family home or at least to retain the lawful equity in the property<\/p>\n Poor end-of-life planning that can unfairly displace minority homeowners<\/p>\n Individuals who outright forge the signature of the homeowner on a Quitclaim or Bargain-and-Sale Deed. We often see this form of deed theft among family members, friends, or romantic partners.<\/p>\n Homeowners who are elderly and suffering from cognitive loss who are directed to sign over their property to the scammer (or their LLC, or to take out a reverse mortgage or home equity investment) allegedly as part of end-of-life planning<\/p>\n Councilman Oss\u00e9 has said that speculators can target homeownership heirs in predominantly Black neighborhoods and try to use \u201clegitimate-looking paperwork\u201d to take ownership of their housing.<\/p>\n \t \u201cSometimes their methods are technically legal\u2026everything that is legal isn\u2019t always right or just,\u201d Oss\u00e9 said in a social media video<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019ve seen enough Black displacement in my life, and I refuse to abdicate my responsibility to ensure Black families can remain in their homes.\u201d<\/p>\n Black homeowner displacement in Bed-Stuy<\/p>\n Black homeowners and renters have lost more of their share of property in rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods like Bed-Stuy, elected officials have said.<\/p>\n In 2018, then-Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams sounded the alarm about the Third Party Transfer program<\/a>, which took homes from owners who were in debt. The program, formed by the city\u2019s Department of Housing Preservation and Development in 1999, had the biggest impact on Black and Latino homeowners in neighborhoods like Bed-Stuy, NBC News previously reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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