Fifteen people have been charged with fraudulently claiming ownership of unoccupied homes and then selling them to unsuspecting buyers, including many immigrants with limited understanding of English and real estate procedures.
The Associated Press: 15 people charged in Philly house stealing scheme
Just as an observation, but when I sold my last home in Atlanta, I sold it to an Asian couple. The wife signed for everything. Her sign was like an A______ . That's pretty much what it looked like. I was wondering if she could write her name in English....or if it was just a pain to do it. (I'm not saying that as a knock at her, I'm saying that as an interested observer.) I noted that neither she (nor her husband) read the paperwork. The same thing came to mind. I know they were speaking in another language with their Realtor. (He was Asian as well.) I didn't think they could read it...or that it might would take a very long time for them. I do know the Realtor kept nodding from time to time and saying something to her...and scritch, scratch went the pen......
When I signed for my home, I read everything. I'm prior military. If you don't read the fine print, you get screwed....everytime. I remember someone telling me (at one of my closings) something like, "It's all in order. It's just legal stuff." I remember saying, "Yep, that's why we have a lawyer here....if I don't don't understand it, he can explain it, right?" Someone made a comment like, "Well, it will take you about 3 hours to read all of that."
I just looked at them real funny. I then said, "Will you sign a statement that you told me not to read these documents and if I find a problem at a later time you accept full responsibility and have no problem with me filing suit?"
They then looked at me real funny. They shut up, though. (The ironic thing is...I'm a speed reader with a semi-decent vocabulary.)
It reminded me of buying a car. A home closing should not be a "pressure cooker" sort of environment. That closing sure was. I think I was holding back another closing they had scheduled after mine. Oh well....not my fault if I actually want to read what they gave me to sign.
The ironic thing about the article above? The home purchases were based on forged documents. Didn't matter if they could read it or not. They might as well have been signing freaking toilet paper.
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