I-Team investigation results in introduction of legislation to stop house stealing
The Ohio House has now joined the effort to protect thieves from stealing homes throughout the Miami Valley and across the state.
>> RELATED: I-TEAM: State lawmakers talking new legislation to stop house stealing
Two lawmakers said they were spurred to introduce legislation based on WHIO’s I-TEAM investigation into house stealing through the filing of quitclaim deeds. Normally, a quitclaim deed is used to easily add a name to a property or transfer property between people who know each other such as family members, friends or business associates. Deed fraud occurs when someone files paperwork on a property to which they don’t have rights.
WHIO I-Team Investigative Reporter John Bedell’s report about the problem of houses being stolen appeared earlier this month.
“Things that came out of WHIO actually spurred interest in the fact that we had several issues going on,” state Rep. Bernie Willis, R-Springfield, told Bedell.
State Rep. Willis Blackshear, D-Dayton, said, “The one woman, when she told her story, it really touched me. So I figured we need to do something about it.”
That woman was Janis Hayes, who told the I-Team in that report earlier this month that someone stole a building she owns in Dayton figuratively right from under her through a false quitclaim deed.
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The legislation Willis and Blackshear are co-sponsoring would add an extra step to the process of transferring quitclaim deeds. People would have to prove they own a property and that property taxes on it are current before any transfer is recorded.
“It really will, we think, stifle the efforts of those who have been just, you know, wheeling and dealing with paper on other people’s real property,” Willis said.
Blackshear calls the legislation “a preventative measure for fraudulent deeds and other scams that have become. . . increasingly prevalent here in Montgomery County.”
The bill would not help people such as Hayes who have been victimized by deed fraud, but it aims to make sure it doesn’t happen to other Ohioans.
Hayes offers a suggestion for enhancing the process to protect property owners.
“I think the action is being taken because of the activity that has preceded the need for this to take place,” she said. “There should be and there should have been in place a system that would allow a person to come in and be identified upon filing deeds and upon getting deeds.”
The Willis-Blackshear effort is being paired with an identical, companion bill in the state Senate, a move lawmakers are hoping makes passage quicker.
Timing is key because any legislation that doesn’t reach Gov. Mike DeWine’s desk by the end of the year will have to start again in January. The goal of the Willis-Blackshear bill is to get it to a House committee by the end of May or early June to start the process
HOW TO PROTECT YOUR PROPERTY
The I-Team looked into ways you can protect your property. Our check shows:
◊ Every county recorder’s office in the Miami Valley offers free fraud alert systems.
◊ When property owners sign up, the recorder’s office will notify the owner whenever it records a document on the property. If any document filed on a property is deemed suspicious, the property owner(s) can report it.
◊ Every county in our area has online property records. You can go online and search using your name or address and make sure your house or other real estate you own is still yours.
Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr. also provides consumer advice: “The big thing to me is: not to use a quitclaim deed. Never buy a property simply by a quitclaim deed. They have their purpose, which is very limited in nature. But if you’re going to buy a piece of property, you want to get a warranty deed or a limited warranty deed. And always go through either a title company or a lawyer. It’s not that expensive.”
