"Dirty Deeds"
investigative CATEGORY
WFAA-TV Dallas
12/13/2022
You would think stealing someone’s home would be hard to do.
But for the last three years, we’ve systematically chronicled just how easy it is, and how, in many cases, victims are left having to pay massive legal bills to undo the damage.
WFAA’s Dirty Deeds series has shown how thieves use forged documents, names of dead relatives, and fake or stolen notary stamps to manipulate an outdated system full of loopholes to steal the most valuable asset and prized possession a family could own – their homes.
Our reporting has gotten results, though more work is left to do. WFAA’s Dirty Deeds series helped spur the following:
In 2019, Texas lawmakers enacted a measure to tighten property deed filing requirements. When WFAA discovered these reforms didn’t fix the problem, lawmakers vowed to introduce new measures when the Texas Legislature reconvenes for the 2023 session.
Dallas County -- one of the most populous in the nation -- created a form to help victims, often financially disadvantaged, start the onerous process to get their homes back.
Felony indictments were filed against a woman accused of stealing eight homes that a Dallas father scrimped and saved to buy over his lifetime to pass down to his relatives after he died.
U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo, sponsored federal legislation aimed at combatting deed fraud and believes the WFAA Dirty Deed series will play a role in motivating Congress to act.
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Submitted by Mark Smith.