| Houston, TX – Harris County Attorney Christian D. Menefee has filed a lawsuit against individuals for counterfeiting property deeds in and around the Trinity Gardens area and selling the properties to unsuspecting buyers. The lawsuit outlines ways that an individuals, with assistance from his associate, fabricated documents and forged signatures to give the impression that he owned the properties that actually belonged to other people. He then filed these fake deeds with the county and sold some of the properties to innocent buyers who had no idea the sales were fraudulent. "In the last few months, we've taken legal action in several similar cases. Let me be clear, this type of scheme that steals homes from their rightful owners has no place in Harris County. We will continue to do what it takes to show that we will not tolerate taking advantage of residents here," said County Attorney Menefee. "My office is taking strong action to stop these individuals from continuing to create fake documents, mess up property records, and trick buyers who thought they were making real purchases." The County Attorney's investigation found that the target was often properties of people who had died. Many times, the family members didn't know they had inherited the property. In one case, the individual created a fake deed just two days after the real owner passed away. The county is looking to stop these activities from happening and is seeking penalties of up to $10,000 for each violation, or up to $250,000 in cases involving elderly victims. The lawsuit also aims to cancel the fraudulent property transfers and return homes to their rightful owners where possible. If you think you might be a victim of a similar property fraud scheme, please contact the Harris County Attorney's Office by filing a report at ScamFreeHC.com. |