Imagine you are enjoying a slow start to your morning. The old kettle on the stove almost boils to a whistle, distant chickens begin to greet the sun and life is as it always has been for years in your home. Then an unexpected knock ruins the peace, and on the other side of the door awaits an adamant stranger with a copy of a title and a pressing assurance that they are the brand-new owners of your house. It sounds impossible, but it happens thousands of times a year, and finally, Dallas is leading the charge on hampering rampant deed fraud.
Committing deed fraud is not that hard. All you really need, for the now at least, is a notarized deed transferring the property and a less-than-scrupulous buyer looking to dole out quick cash. But starting in the new year, a number of new laws, filed by Dallas Sen. Royce West with support from Dallas Rep. Rafael Anchia and a village of advocates, will penalize perpetrators while offering more protections to the victims.
“[This] is the ultimate violation of one’s property, one’s sense of safety and security in the most important asset that they own,” said Anchia at a news conference…