Michigan lawmakers target property deed fraud

Imagine finding out someone stole your home without ever setting foot inside. It's happening right here in Metro Detroit, where scammers are using fake deeds to take ownership of properties that don't belong to them. Now, Michigan lawmakers are pushing new legislation to help victims get their homes back. Detroit City Council Member Mary Waters joins us to talk about the growing problem. And we do thank you for joining us here today. This is just a very bizarre premise to even begin with, that people could steal your house without even walking into the house. Talk about this issue with deeds and what needs to change. All right, so first of all, I'm very grateful to the Michigan lawmakers for taking this issue up because once we did a series of workshops throughout the city of Detroit, I then had a conversation with some of our representatives there in Lansing. They committed to the fact that they would do something about it, and I'm so happy that they've done that because that helped to support us. See, when you put it in state law, it gives it some teeth as opposed to an ordinance. The other thing that I did at the city level is that I created a deed fraud unit within the law department. So what will happen is that the Wayne County Register of Deeds will refer all of those Detroit cases to our law department. Our law department will then investigate those cases and refer them to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office. The Wayne County Prosecutors Office really needs some help, too, because they have about two people that's working on deed fraud. They have a backlog of 400-plus cases. People are still waiting for some answers in terms of what's happening with their case. And the Wayne County Register of Deeds, he has a unit where if you register your property with the Wayne County Register of Deeds, you can then be notified if anyone decides to file something against your property. Got it. And so we're going to start to do another round of deed fraud workshops because people are asking for them. They prey on the elderly. They're taking legacy properties. this is not just a a detroit problem it's a wayne county problem it's a michigan it's a national problem because guess what the city of new york even has a major issue with it they started doing something about it but what is it that happened so like okay so i i'm living in my home let's say i'm a senior citizen i'm living in my home uh and all of a sudden someone says hey this isn't your house anymore yeah well they go down to the wayne county register of deeds with the fake deed they do that and they long before did not allow the Wayne County Register of Deeds to do anything except to check to see if everything was in order if it is they have to file that paperwork but you're saying someone can actually go to the the office and say i own 1900 main street that's mine and i have this fake deed and because the fraud is so thick oftentimes across the country and perhaps here at home that they don't have enough people to go through and actually authenticate that well no the way Wayne County Register of Deeds has to do exactly what their state law allowed them to do and that is to check to make sure that form has all everything on there that's necessary right they don't even have to go and check to see if it's correct or not and then they would have someone to notarize it and people bring them in and they found they've had to go after notaries too for being a part of the fraud yeah and you think about this i think you said it best you know it's good to have ordinances it's important and they're binding and they mean something obviously that's why you do the work you do every day but to have the state and the legislature as you say put teeth behind this yes that's going to change something isn't that is going to change something uh state level federal level we need all the help that we can get people worked hard for their properties for ownership and and if you got grandma or mom that leave you this property and somebody steal it right from under you i have a person to call my office and they said you know I need some help with my property taxes, well come to find out they no longer own the property, some LLC had taken their property so that had to be referred to the Wayne County Register of Deeds who then referred it to the Wayne County Prosecutor, well we're glad to know that there's some change that's happening here from the state level to help, as you say, put some weight behind this. It's all of our jobs to do, you know, to serve and protect. From the city to the offices, to the county offices, to the state. And that is exactly it. That's what you pledged to do. Detroit City Council Member Mary Waters, always good to see you. All right, thanks for joining us here tonight. Thanks for what you do.