A detailed scam that would have worked but for a couple who wasn't as absent as the crook believed. Still, it seems we have some screwed up laws regarding possession of housing. The unethical or deeply in need only seek out a vacant house and move in. Eviction gets complicated even in the clear cut case of these types of hostile takeovers.
This is fraud in the millions of dollars.
Laverne Green was shocked to discover that someone had stolen her house and moved strangers in. She was even more dismayed to find out that she had to start court proceedings to get her own house back.
It all started when Green and her husband, undergoing a divorce, had moved out of their Prince Georges County, Maryland, townhouse. Green still stopped by weekly to make sure everything was OK with the house. But in May 2013, she arrived to find an unwelcome surprise when she discovered that her key didn't work in the door.
“So I knock on the door, and this lady comes to the door,” Green told ABC News’ “20/20.” “She said that she was renting the property. I’m like, ‘How can you rent this property--this is my house?’”
The renters said they procured the house through broker Shannon Lee. They called Lee, who arrived minutes later.
“This lady pulls up in this black BMW. She jumps out of the car, and she said, ‘Well, I bought this property through a tax sale,’” Green recalled. “I asked her, ‘[Do you] have the deeds and everything to the house?’ She said, ‘Oh yeah, I’ve got everything.’”
Police say Lee had actually taken control of her house with forged documents and then rented it out.
“Nobody suspected that someone would actually advertise a property they didn’t own and collect rent on it,” prosecutor Angela Alsobrooks told “20/20.”
Alsobrooks said this type of scam only works if the real homeowner isn’t around to notice. Luckily, Green not only visited her house often, but she also was a secretary for the Prince Georges County Police. Instead of calling 911, Green asked co-worker Lt. Charles Duelley for help.
Duelley got a search warrant for Lee’s home and discovered a stack of deeds he said were forged for other homes and other evidence of a scheme in progress much larger than he’d ever imagined.
“I identified probably 15 to 20 other properties … that had been targeted,” Duelley told “20/20.”...
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/police-women-stealing-houses/story?id=26328002
This is fraud in the millions of dollars.
Laverne Green was shocked to discover that someone had stolen her house and moved strangers in. She was even more dismayed to find out that she had to start court proceedings to get her own house back.
It all started when Green and her husband, undergoing a divorce, had moved out of their Prince Georges County, Maryland, townhouse. Green still stopped by weekly to make sure everything was OK with the house. But in May 2013, she arrived to find an unwelcome surprise when she discovered that her key didn't work in the door.
“So I knock on the door, and this lady comes to the door,” Green told ABC News’ “20/20.” “She said that she was renting the property. I’m like, ‘How can you rent this property--this is my house?’”
The renters said they procured the house through broker Shannon Lee. They called Lee, who arrived minutes later.
“This lady pulls up in this black BMW. She jumps out of the car, and she said, ‘Well, I bought this property through a tax sale,’” Green recalled. “I asked her, ‘[Do you] have the deeds and everything to the house?’ She said, ‘Oh yeah, I’ve got everything.’”
Police say Lee had actually taken control of her house with forged documents and then rented it out.
“Nobody suspected that someone would actually advertise a property they didn’t own and collect rent on it,” prosecutor Angela Alsobrooks told “20/20.”
Alsobrooks said this type of scam only works if the real homeowner isn’t around to notice. Luckily, Green not only visited her house often, but she also was a secretary for the Prince Georges County Police. Instead of calling 911, Green asked co-worker Lt. Charles Duelley for help.
Duelley got a search warrant for Lee’s home and discovered a stack of deeds he said were forged for other homes and other evidence of a scheme in progress much larger than he’d ever imagined.
“I identified probably 15 to 20 other properties … that had been targeted,” Duelley told “20/20.”...
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/police-women-stealing-houses/story?id=26328002
