'Knew something was wrong,' cries couple with home sold out from under them – someone showed up at door with the deed | 4R5BZT9 | 2024-05-12 05:08:01
A COUPLE thought something was strange when they tried to pay a bill last year – little did they know their home would be sold out from under them.
Stephanie and Derrick – whose real names have been concealed to protect their identity – tried to pay their mortgage but it mysteriously disappeared from their Canadian bank account.
"We knew something was wrong. We weren't the ones to close our mortgage," Stephanie told CBC News last year
"But we didn't know the extent of it."
The couple, originally from Toronto, Canada, moved overseas for work for a few years and had rented their fully-furnished home in Etobicoke to make passive income.
When they returned to Toronto, they had every intention of going back to the house.
However, things only got worse after having the issue with their mortgage.
The couple's property management company came to their house to find a stranger answering the door saying that they owned the home.
After checking the title, it turns out the stranger was right.
"That was probably when it really hit home that this wasn't just some mistake," Derrick said.
"But legally, the system believes you actually no longer own your home."
It was later revealed that Stephanie and Derrick's home was fraudulently sold without their knowledge, said Toronto police in a press conference.
There were at least three other similar cases in the Greater Toronto Area of homeowners having their homes sold out from under them by organized crime groups.
The couple hopes their story will give insight into identification requirements in Toronto real-estate transactions and how current guidelines are failing to protect homeowners.
"All the things you need to provide to buy a house, no one ever checks if those match up when you sell a house," claimed Derrick.
"You trust these institutions to protect you and it feels like they're doing whatever they can to do things as fast and as cheap as possible."
They said the scammers who impersonated them to sell their home kept spelling one of their last names wrong throughout the transaction, meaning it was inconsistent with the fake ID they were using.
"I think that's what scares you the most," said Derrick.
"You think well, if the bank fails, the real estate board will catch it. Or if the real estate board fails, the lawyer who signs off on the house sale will catch it.
"And so many people, so many educated people, it just passes by."
NOT ENOUGH
Some real estate industry stakeholders are using province and professional oversight committees to strengthen identification requirements to stop fraudulent title transfers.
Currently, real estate agents, brokers, and lawyers only require one piece of government-issued photo ID to verify that clients are who they say.
If not, an approved alternate method of ID is also reviewed such as a Canadian credit file.
"The problem we have in Canada right now is that there's no such thing as valid ID anymore," John Rider, the senior vice president of Chicago Title Insurance Company told the outlet.
"How can someone borrow $2,000,000 to buy a house with a simple piece of plastic that can be easily forged? It just shouldn't be happening."
Rider said claims such as Stephanie and Derrick's and other mortgage fraud have cost the industry at least $200 million in the last two-and-a-half years.
He suggested a multi-factor identification process should be implemented across all real estate transactions.
This would require a photo ID, a credit report search, and checks on the provided phone number to ensure it's not a burner phone.
"This multi-factor catches most of the fraudsters," Rider said. "We're finding most of the time that the fraudsters get caught up, it's on the cell phone number."
COUPLE WANTS JUSTICE
Stephanie and Derrick are hoping tougher laws would spread awareness of the crime affecting homeowners.
"We need [the] government to protect its citizens more from this type of crime that is increasing in prevalence in Ontario," said Stephanie.
They said they were thankful that they had title insurance on their home to cover the costs related to getting it back or receiving the sale price of the property.
However, they said even that protection doesn't guarantee you everything.
"It also doesn't account for the house being sold under market value … if fraudsters are looking to make a quick buck," said Derrick.
"You get what it's sold for, not what it's worth."
The couple said the trauma from their experience won't go away anytime soon.
"It feels like it'll never be done," said Derrick.
More >> https://ift.tt/rxNRgd7 Source: MAG NEWS
