The Voice • January 2017
A Cape Coral man is under investigation after filing a quitclaim deed to unlawfully gain ownership of a house in Lee County, Florida. The vacant home had been foreclosed by Wells Fargo bank and was actually in the process of being purchased by a family from Indiana. But before the family could take ownership of their new home, Lemroyal James had taken it upon himself to complicate things and cloud the title on the property.
James said his intent was not to commit fraud or to cause harm, but instead to send a message to banks that he thinks shouldn’t own property titles since he feels the American public “bailed them out.” When James was interviewed by a local news channel he admitted to “filing claims on the titles of foreclosed homes that he does not own.” [1]
A real estate attorney simply refers to James as a conman. Since he transferred the title of a property he doesn’t legitimately own, he is committing fraud. James was able to get the quitclaim deed processed because the deed he submitted met the requirements for the document to be properly recorded. As a result, the house’s title was clouded since the validity of the claim was not verified by the Lee County Clerk’s Office. Had a notification service like Property Fraud Alert been available and utilized by the bank they could have gotten early notification of the false claim being made on the property and taken appropriate action.
Sources
[1] http://www.winknews.com/2016/09/29/florida-man-uses-quitclaim-to-fraud-homeowners-pick-fights/
