Nov 5, 2009 5:25 pm US/Central
Woman Loses Dream Home Due To Fake Deeds
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Samatha Ferguson's hopes of owning her dream home were shattered when bank officials discovered that someone else's name was on the deed.
CBS
A Chicago woman saw her dream home snatched right in front of her eyes. Now, authorities are investigating a Chicago realtor they say may be responsible for stealing dozens of homes. CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker reports on a scheme that involved little more than a pen, phony papers and a loophole in the system.
"It's a beautiful all-brick house," said Samatha Ferguson.
It's Samatha Ferguson's dream house. Last July, the bank accepted her $65,000 offer to make the foreclosed property her first home. She had big plans.
"I wanted to make a single family home with a loft in the back," Ferguson said.
That was, until her dreams were shattered.
Shattered, when bank officials discovered, on the day she was supposed to close, that a man named Paul Muhammad owned the property because his name was on the deed.
"You're at a standstill, and you're hurt and disappointed because you want to move in your property. You just want to live here," Ferguson said.
Ferguson got this copy of the deed from the Office of the Cook County Recorder of Deeds: the keeper of all our deeds. But the deed is based on phony papers.
"The papers look real, very legit," Ferguson said.
It looks like the woman who owned the property back in 2005 lost it to the bank, but decided in July of 2009 to deed the property over to Paul Muhammad for $10.
CBS 2 tried to ask Muhammad to explain but he wasn't home. We visited his office and it was empty.
Ferguson says her property is just one of many that bear Muhammad's name.
"There's another one down the street. It comes down to be about 70 different properties," Ferguson said.
Properties all over the Chicago area, from $200,000 homes on the South Side to a $2.1 million house in River Forest.
"I don't understand why, at any point, someone didn't call the previous owner or the bank. Is there not a system to do that?" Ferguson said.
No, there isn't. According to the Chief Deputy Recorder of Deeds, by law, the office has to record any deed it receives.
"Our clerks are not in the position to determine whether or not it's fraudulent. That's the problem," said Darlena Williams-Burnett, Chief Deputy Recorder of Deeds.
It's a problem Burnett wants to fix by installing an alert system that would contact owners or banks anytime someone tries to transfer a deed for any reason.
But that won't help Ferguson.
"I'm nowhere near knowing when I'm going to close," Ferguson said.
The problem is she has to resolve the issue in court. The bank is working on her behalf. She intends to keep fighting until she can finally claim her dream home.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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