Quitclaim Deed Fraud Pervasive in Region With Few Consequences

Real estate | Fraud | Quitclaim deed | Ohio | May 15, 2024

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A judge ruled that one woman’s Dayton property was stolen from her through quitclaim fraud, but the judge decided she won’t get the building back because the people who bought it from the alleged fraudsters are also victims.

Another woman’s grandmother’s house in Dayton is still listed in the names of people she says she never sold it to despite a court ruling to invalidate the quitclaim deed transferring the property.

These are a couple examples of how a Dayton Daily News investigation found alleged fraudsters are increasingly accused of stealing local homes and properties out from under their owners by filing fraudulent documents with the county — and so far largely getting away with it.

Our investigation found:

- The Montgomery County Recorder’s office has seen 91 complaints regarding questionable deeds since the beginning of 2023, according to data provided by that office.

- These cases are rarely prosecuted criminally because of challenges such as the long period of time that often goes by before the suspected fraud is discovered. Less than 10 cases are currently being investigated by the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office.

- Someone who files a quitclaim deed can make thousands of dollars on each transaction by selling the property to a third party, defrauding the buyer as well and sometimes making it so the original owner can’t get their property back.

- County officials are promoting tools property owners can use to protect their properties from such schemes, and say these tools have proven effective in several recent cases.

- But victims of such fraud say they are largely on their own, spending their own money and fighting county bureaucracy in efforts to get their property back.

Complaints, enforcement

Quitclaim deeds are quick ways to transfer property and often are used by family members. But in these schemes, a quitclaim deed with a false signature of the owner, coupled with a negligent or complicit notarization, is recorded against the property.

Montgomery County Recorder Stacey Benson-Taylor last year reported her office has seen an uptick in complaints related to quitclaim deeds.

In response to a request from the Dayton Daily News, the Montgomery County Recorder’s Office tallied 91 complaints regarding questionable deeds since the beginning of 2023.

This includes any complaint regarding suspected fraud, notaries associated with a deed or names listed on a deed.

According to the recorder’s office, 23 of these complaints have been forwarded to the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office. Other complaints heard by the recorder’s office have been mediated outside of the office, along with other resolutions.

Out of these forwarded complaints, the prosecutor’s office is investigating nearly 10. These claims are difficult to prosecute due to the amount of time that typically passes before the fraudulent activity is discovered by the impacted person, according to the prosecutor’s office.

A man was indicted by the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office in 2018 on 25 counts in connection with filing fraudulent property deeds; he remains at large, according to Montgomery County Clerk of Courts records.

Judge: Buyer keeps property

Janis Bryant Hayes says her property, an apartment building on Cumberland Avenue, was taken from her through a quitclaim deed transferring it to a limited liability corporation. It has since passed hands twice.

Montgomery County Judge Mary Wiseman last month ruled that Bryant Hayes could not reclaim her property, ruling that the listed owner Brandon McClure must pay her more than $19,000 for the property.

County property records show McClure paid $13,500 for the property in 2020.

“Bryant is an innocent victim of quitclaim deed fraud,” Wiseman wrote in her March court ruling. “However, she allowed the property to deteriorate and failed to timely pay property taxes on the property.

“She did not timely investigate why tax bills may have stopped being sent to her. She allowed the property to appear abandoned and incur significant deterioration,” Wiseman wrote. “McClure and his company also are innocent victims of the same quitclaim deed fraud.”

Bryant Hayes said the ruling was discouraging. She felt blame was shifted to her, even though she was the victim of fraud.

A reporter visited the Cumberland Avenue location and attempted to make contact with people in the building, but no one was home. The newspaper also reached out to McClure’s attorney, but did not hear back.

Bryant Hayes boarded up the Dayton apartment building when her husband became sick in 2019 or 2020.

“There was just too much happening for me then,” she said. “I don’t have the time and energy I once had.”

When driving past the building in 2021, she noticed it looked like work was being done on the building. That led to her discovery that the property — which had been in her possession for more than 30 years — was no longer in her name.

Bryant Hayes, 75, is battling health issues related to her heart on top of her three-year struggle to reclaim her apartment building.

More than anything, she said she feels violated.

“For years, restoring old buildings, making them look beautiful, was my passion,” she said. “That was at a time where city leaders encouraged people to be a part of building back Dayton. I wanted to be a part of that positive change, that progress.”

‘Had to handle this process by myself’

Rae Wiggins said she went through every necessary step to work toward her dream of making her grandmother’s old house on Weaver Street in Dayton the first home of her adult life.

She filed all necessary paperwork to enter the property, which was declared a public health nuisance after it was left uninhabited. She signed up for a payment plan for $14,000 in unpaid property taxes and began making payments.

She even hired a contractor to help her determine what work was needed to bring the building back to standard. The property had been in her family for more than 40 years.

But when she learned a quitclaim deed had been filed transferring the property to two people she said she’d never met, she was confused and shocked.

“This has taken up so much of my time, my headspace,” she said. “And I’ve had to handle this process by myself.”

Wiggins’ case in September ultimately resulted in a default judgment, as the two people listed on the deed — Lyrese S. Wyrick and Tremayne L. Adams — did not respond to any court filing or appear in court.

Reached by the Dayton Daily News for comment, Adams declined to discuss the allegations of fraud and details about the court case, saying he was seeking legal counsel for next steps. Wyrick did not respond to a request for comment.

The court ruled that the Montgomery County Recorder’s Office and Montgomery County Auditor’s Office should invalidate the quitclaim deed filed against the property.

As of this week, neither office has done so. Wiggins in March filed a motion of contempt against both offices.

For now, Wiggins must wait to move back to her hometown. She said her dream of giving new life to the house her grandmother lived in is on hold.

Wiggins has estimated she’s paid up to $5,000 in court-related expenses in her case, and she said she missed work due to needing to appear in court or study the law for her case.

Protect your property

Benson-Taylor said her office is taking action to prevent quitclaim fraud. This includes a close inspection of notaries appearing on quitclaim deed documents to verify their validity.

Since January, the Montgomery County Recorder’s Office has rejected 12 documents with issues related to the validity of the notary. This included notaries who had their status revoked by the state, notaries who had expired statuses, and notaries with multiple names and expiration dates. The office has even seen a document with a deceased notary’s signature and signatures from four fictitious notaries.

The Montgomery County Recorder’s Office also operates a free notification system to keep property owners in the loop for documents related to their properties.

Those enrolled in The Fraud Alert Notification System (FANS) can opt to receive an email, a letter or both whenever a deed, a mortgage or a lien is filed on parcels enrolled in the service. Residents can enroll on the county recorder’s website or at its office.

“It’s important that we’re having conversations about this,” Benson-Taylor said. “It’s about helping people understand this is an issue and there are ways we can help protect your property.”

Benson-Taylor said the Ohio Recorders’ Association is seeking legislative solutions to preventing quitclaim deed fraud.

“It’s not only happening in Montgomery County or Ohio, it’s happening all over,” she said.

Wiggins said that although the notification system flags property owners to changes made, it doesn’t give them enough time to act. She suggested a 24-48 hour hold on these documents.

“This doesn’t really prevent anything,” she said. “And preventing these things from happening is great. But more can be done to help people going through it right now.”

‘I have to keep fighting’

Robin Mobley of Trotwood says more accountability is needed from the county offices that approve these transfers. She also suggested a fund be created for victims of fraudulent property transfers.

Mobley says a lawyer told her that she would need to pay $20,000 to have a legal representative for her quitclaim deed fraud case. She decided to represent herself in court.

Nearly a year into a court battle to reclaim her Hackett Drive property, the end is possibly in sight in the case. In February, she presented closing arguments in a mortgage foreclosure case.

She says she found out last year that her property transferred ownership when she received a summons in the mail naming her as a defendant in a mortgage foreclosure case. Her case has progressed in court for nearly a year, falling at a time where she was also battling and recovering from lung cancer.

Montgomery County property records show that the house was in her possession in 2010, but transferred to Rush Plaza Corp., owned by Demetrious Rush, in 2012 through a quitclaim deed.

Mobley said she was working with a realtor to put the property up for sale when she began negotiating an agreement with Rush. Court records show that Rush signed a delinquent tax contract to make payments on taxes for the residence.

Rush died in 2017. The property has accumulated more than $13,000 in delinquent taxes, according to Montgomery County Auditor’s Office records. This delinquency could be shifted to Mobley if she reclaims the Hackett Drive house, she said.

She tried to pursue criminal charges but says she was told by the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office that was not possible because Rush is dead.

An attorney for Rush Plaza Corp. disputes Mobley’s claims. In closing arguments filed in March, attorney Thomas Manning asserted that no one at the prosecutor’s office, auditor’s office, recorder’s office or treasurer’s office concluded the deed was fraudulent.

“(Mobley) has literally put forth no credible evidence to support her claim that the Deed is fraudulent and does not contain her signature,” Manning wrote.

For now, Mobley waits on a ruling.

“It’s been the most stressful process,” she said after her February court hearing. “And I’m just so tired. But I have to keep fighting.”

Credit goes to Sydney Dawes, published April 4, 2024 in the Dayton Daily News.

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This Week’s Author, Mark Bradstreet