Authorities warn of an increase in property fraud in Florida

By Susan Giles Wantuck

A loophole in state law makes it easy for criminals to commit fraud, Hillsborough Clerk of Courts Cindy Stuart said. Property fraud is a growing problem in Florida and across the United States.

One Tampa couple is still fighting to get their home back almost a year after someone took it away by changing the deed without their permission or knowledge. Dreama and Larry Bilby weren’t living in the house at the time because it was being renovated. It was a house they had lived in for 40 years.

The Bilbys set up surveillance cameras since they planned to be away. Earlier this year, Dreama noticed a man and a woman snooping around the house on their surveillance videos. The couple kept returning to the property, prompting Larry to register for property fraud alerts with the Hillsborough County Clerk of Courts. A few days later, Dreama received a message from the clerk’s office.

“I got a message that our deed had been changed. ‘Well, lo and behold, we hurried down to the clerk of the court, which is the first thing you should do, is check with them, and then you need to file a criminal report. So, we did all of those things because, yes, our deed had been changed. Someone had put our home and their name under an LLC,’” she said.

Hillsborough County Clerk Cindy Stuart said Michelle Cherry and her husband Victor Rodriguez, who came from Miami to Tampa in January, used a quitclaim deed to steal the Bilbys’ property in February. They were even caught on video submitting the paperwork at the clerk’s office.

Most people may not be familiar with quitclaim deeds, which allow quick property transfers—for example, during a divorce or when a parent transfers property to a child.

“It is a single-page document that requires very little information. It has the property address, the current owner, and statements indicating the intent to transfer the property. It only requires two names, two addresses, and two signatures,” Stuart said.

Assistant State Attorney Michael Lennon, chief of the Economic Crimes Unit in Hillsborough County, explained the challenge in preventing such fraud.

“It’s too easy for someone to forge a quitclaim deed and take it to the clerk’s office, and there are no real safeguards in place beyond the notification system. But that system only alerts you after the fact. It can help catch someone because they’ll be on camera, but it doesn’t prevent the fraudulent deed from being filed,” Lennon said.

By law, every county in Florida must provide free notifications if a deed change is filed, whether for homes, businesses, or vacant property. These alerts typically notify within 24 hours, but without them, the fraud might only come to light when tax notices arrive—or don’t—in November or January.

A pilot program in Lee County is testing ways to close this legal loophole. Lee County Clerk Kevin Karnes said the program requires government-issued IDs to be tied to land records.

“So, if someone suspects a fraudulent land transaction, law enforcement will have both the suspected false document and the IDs of everyone involved,” Karnes explained.

Karnes said his office will submit a legislative report on the pilot program’s outcomes, and lawmakers will determine the next steps.

Dreama Bilby shared how she and her husband took action when they discovered the fraud. On the day they learned about the fraudulent deed, they went to the legal library at the clerk’s office, where Larry placed a $500,000 lien on their own property, preventing the thieves from reselling it.

However, the visits from Cherry and Rodriguez continued.

“Our neighbor of 40 years saw them around our home and asked what they were doing there. He’s a bailiff in the Tampa court system, and when they said they bought the house from Larry, he told them, ‘I know that not to be true. You need to leave,” Dreama recalled.

She mentioned that another person she knows, who also fell victim to property fraud, is fighting the issue through civil proceedings, which has been costly and remains unresolved after years.

Hillsborough Assistant State Attorney Michael Lennon said Cherry and Rodriguez will be prosecuted for identity theft, which carries severe penalties. They are also facing charges for changing the deeds on three different houses in Hillsborough County this year, using forged documents and signatures.

“Whenever there’s identity theft involving property worth $100,000 or more, it carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years, with a maximum of up to 30 years in state prison,” Lennon said.

Lennon suggested legislative changes to improve safeguards, such as requiring property owners to be present for quitclaim deed transactions.

“And if the grantor can’t be present, the transaction should take place at a licensed title agency, where more safeguards and title insurance can protect the legitimacy of the transfer,” he added.

Lennon advised homeowners to take precautions, especially when leaving properties vacant.

“Make sure your property is well-maintained. If it looks abandoned, with boarded windows, overgrown grass, or piled-up mail, it becomes an easy target for scammers,” he warned.

He emphasized that scammers aim to flip stolen properties quickly by selling them to unsuspecting buyers.

While it’s unclear if hurricanes Helene and Milton will lead to more property fraud, Hillsborough Clerk Cindy Stuart anticipates a potential uptick.

“As with any natural disaster, there’s always fraud and crime that follows,” she said.

Original article: https://www.wusf.org/courts-law/2024-10-24/authorities-warn-increase-property-fraud-florida-hurricane-milton