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Mortgage & Deed Fraud Unit
Prosecutor Kym Worthy, then Sheriff Warren Evans, and Register of Deeds Bernard Youngblood worked tirelessly to come up with a solution to solve the problem of mortgage deed fraud. As a result, in 2005 the Mortgage & Deed Fraud Unit was created.
Housed in the Register's offices at 400 Monroe, the unit intakes citizen complaints called in to the Register of Deeds Mortgage & Deed Fraud hotline. The unit moved into its new headquarters in January of 2006.
In recent years, criminals have discovered that they can prepare and record legitimate looking documents, and forge the rightful owners signatures, transferring title to themselves. They then work with an unsuspecting or cooperative mortgage lender, and borrow against the property, all without the knowledge of the rightful owner. This often happens when the rightful owner has recently died, or been placed in a nursing home.
All the equity is pulled from the property at the closing, no payments are made on the mortgage, and the property goes into what is known in the industry as a "first payment default". This will usually trigger a fraud investigation by the parent company of the mortgage lender.
The rightful owner, or their heirs or family members, only learn of what has taken place when they find foreclosure papers taped to the front door. Filing a civil lawsuit to stop the foreclosure and set aside the forged transfer is expensive; time consuming, and often only marginally cost effective.
When the Register of Deeds receives a suspicious document, it is now immediately flagged and there is an investigation to determine the legitimacy of the document. Each file is typically factually intensive, and requires a great deal more investigative and prosecutorial time than an ordinary stolen car, or home invasion, or simple larceny case. Though the unit only began in 2005, it enjoyed a 100% conviction rate for its 2009 cases.
Contact Information
Register of Deeds
400 Monroe
Detroit, MI 48226
Deed Fraud Hotline: (313) 224-5869
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. How could a piece of real estate possibly be stolen?
Q. How do I know if I have been a victim of deed fraud?
Q. What should I do if I see symptoms of deed fraud?
Q. Can the Mortgage & Deed Fraud Unit stop foreclosure of my property?
A. No, that would need to be done by a Circuit Judge.
Q. Can the Mortgage & Deed Fraud Unit get my house back in my name?
A. Possibly. If the Defendant can be located, charged, and convicted, you can ask the Judge to order him or her to sign whatever documents are needed to put the house back in your name. Legislation is being drafted to grant the Court additional powers in this area.
Q. What else can I do if I find out that my house has been stolen?
