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First: I know this is not a forum where one can ask for help on how to commit a crime. I PROMISE I am merely asking hypothetically, out of curiosity, because I saw a similar situation on an episode of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" and am just curious if such a thing could happen here in 2015 (Or if it could have ever worked). I am merely relaying the crime plot in first person and changing the situation slightly to accommodate personal tastes.
Scam:
What I do is I find my mark. My mark is a retired couple who travel overseas or on world cruises for an extended period of time for a month or more, and likely have paid off their mortgage and own their home outright.
I enter their house while they are away and look through their personal files hoping to find 4 things:
1. Documents with their social security numbers on them, as I will certainly need these for a home sale.
2. Copies of their signatures so I can get good at forging them.
3. The deed to the house so that a transfer/sale can occur.
4. Documents showing that the house has been paid off.
I then get a flawless fake driver's license and contact a real estate agent. As houses often sit on the market for several months before being sold, I have to accept less for it so it will close quickly before the couple return from their 1-2 month overseas trip. I explain to the real estate agent that I am very hard up for money and simply need to sell the house quickly, even if I have to take less for it, and give the agent a deadline to find a buyer or else I'll have to go with another agent.
Using the fake IDs, the deed and knowledge of "our" social security numbers, I fill out all the paper work and forge the signatures of "my wife and I" (Does the agent really have to meet my "wife" in person, or is her "signature" on the deed enough?)
So the house sells quickly for below market value, but I still get a check for a couple hundred grand, redeemed with my fake ID.
Won't the couple be surprised when they return home and find the Jones family living in their house insisting they bought it.
Meanwhile, I am on a beach in Cebu with a Filipina girl on either arm.
Not likely. There is a title search and background check done as part of the buyers title insurance. These checks are pretty exhaustive, not going to go into detail for obvious reasons.
That would not happen today with so many checks and balances. If it did happen, that would be sad as so many people would have failed at their part of the process.
That would not happen today with so many checks and balances. If it did happen, that would be sad as so many people would have failed at their part of the process.
Most people committing real estate fraud probably aren't going through title companies. A number of banks recently created phony mortgage documents. Does anyone really believe that it would be difficult to create a phony Deed?
In Michigan, some Prosecutors have even created special units to combat real estate fraud...because it happens.
Most people committing real estate fraud probably aren't going through title companies. A number of banks recently created phony mortgage documents. Does anyone really believe that it would be difficult to create a phony Deed?
In Michigan, some Prosecutors have even created special units to combat real estate fraud...because it happens.
In the OP's example, he contacted a real estate agent. For an agent to be involved, it's going to close within the proper channels because there is E&O insurance through the brokerage and everything will be recorded as such. In my area, that involves a title company.
If the OP wanted to run his example as a FSBO, it might be more feasible to be a scam.
The scam is pretty straight forward and easily done. But it is the details that screw it up. For instance the next door neighbor knows the owner. Or a kid lives in town and checks the house...or the owner has someone on retainer for a weekly check.
There is a long litany of such details that screw it up. Or I track the neighborhood and sold the house to the present owner...I would immediately get curious if it was listed or developed a for sale sign.
Hypothetically you would do much better trying to pick off a vacant on its way to foreclosure or bank owned.
On a side note, what would happen in my scenario when the chickens (or the vacationing owners) come home to roost?
On one hand, the owners didn't consent to the sale and should arguably get their house back.
On the other hand, the new "owners" paid for the house in a way that was legitimate at their end, put the down payment on it and got a bank loan for several hundred grand and owe payments on it for the next 30 years.
So what would ultimately occur here?
Do the unconsenting previous owners lose their house for no money, or do the buyers have to return the house yet still owe a 30 year mortgage loan to the bank for a house they don't get to keep?
The scammer is long gone with the money, so one way or another one of the two honest parties would eventually get screwed here, right?
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