You can't steal real estate...can you?  I mean how could someone steal my home? You can’t appreciate the feeling of violation that comes with knowing that someone, usually a stranger, has taken advantage of you unless you have been a victim.  Often the property that they have taken from you pales in comparison to having robbed you of your sense of security and trust. It’s one thing to have your shoes stolen at the swimming pool and quite another to have your home stolen out from under you.  That may sound bizarre but it is happening to more and more North Americans homeowners everyday. It is called Title or Mortgage Fraud and is increasing at an alarming rate to the tune of an estimated $1.5 billion in Canada.

Today’s criminals are getting smarter and smarter knowing that they don’t have to hold someone up in the back alley anymore to make a buck because the big money is in mortgage fraud. The way it works is that when you own a home your bank gives you the money to buy it and registers their mortgage against it.  As your property appreciates in value and the mortgage decreases, the bank will let you refinance and withdraw some of the equity you have built up.  Anyone who know this could go to the bank pretending to be you, forge your signature and take off with the money leaving you to pay it back.

Similarly, someone could transfer title out of your name (as if you sold it to them) and take out another mortgage on your home. You would still have to repay the mortgage, reclaim your ownership and pay all of the costs involved or lose your home. Although it sounds incredulous to us honest folks that this is going on, it is happening with alarming increase. After four years of investigating, the Law Society of British Columbia approved payments to victims of a multi-million dollar fraud case that involved a Vancouver lawyer.  Hundreds of victims shared a $32.5 million settlement.  Imagine the Alberta man who went to pay his property taxes only to be told he no longer owned the property.  The thief walked away with the re-mortgaged amount of $110,000 after transferring title from his name.

Rhonda Hoffman

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