In a stunning case of real estate fraud, a Raleigh, NC man is locked in a bitter legal battle to repossess his multimillion-dollar mansion after a stranger slipped the deed on his property — and now he’s being told to pay thousands just to get it. own house back.
Craig Adams, a local dentist who owns an 8,300-square-foot home in an exclusive gated community in North Raleigh, was stunned to discover that the deed to his home had been transferred to someone named Dawn Mangum without his consent or knowledge.
The mansion is also for sale, asking $4.25 million.
“I found out that she had filed a false warranty deed against this house and basically tried to steal it. [it]Adams told ABC 7.
Adams first learned of the fraudulent foreclosure when his homeowners association contacted him, asking if he had sold his property.
Mangum had contacted the HOA, requesting entry to the gate of the private community where the house is located – raising alarm bells that something was wrong. When Adams dug deeper, he discovered that Mangum had somehow filed paperwork with the Wake County Register of Deeds, listing herself as the new owner of his property under the “Dawn Mangum Trust.”
What was even more shocking? The documents were approved and officially registered without anyone verifying that they were legitimate.
“There is no attempt to prove the validity of the change in the act. No one verifies the notary. Nobody verifies who owns the house that’s trying to be transferred to another owner,” Adams said.
He quickly provided proof that the house was his, including mortgage and tax records, but county officials told him their hands were tied.
“They say there is absolutely nothing they can do to turn this around,” Adams said. “Once it’s filed, their only recourse is that I have to go hire a private attorney, and the first offer I got was about $8,000 to file a civil suit against this woman.”
So how did this happen? North Carolina law does not require County Registers of Deeds to verify the legitimacy of the documents they receive, nor do they have to check that the notary is valid or that the person filing the deed has any legal title to the property.
In fact, the law allows these offices to process thousands of documents each day, without digging deeper, unless there is clear suspicion of fraud — something that wasn’t noted in Adams’ case, according to WRAL.
“The biggest concern is … we are so vulnerable!” Adams said. “Anybody, I can come down and put this lien on, find out where you live, and apparently take ownership of your house. It’s that easy.”
Mangum, the woman now listed as Adams’ homeowner, claims the whole situation was an innocent mistake. She says she believed the property was abandoned and in foreclosure and thought she was within her rights to claim it.
“I’m not out to take anybody’s house, but to find abandoned property and restore it,” Mangum texted Wilson. She now claims she is willing to return ownership to Adams and amend the documents.
However, Adams still faces a costly and frustrating legal battle. Despite Mangum’s claims of cooperation, Adams will have to hire a lawyer and take the case to court to overturn the fraudulent transfer.
In the meantime, he hopes his ordeal will lead to changes in state law, making it harder for scammers and opportunists to pull off this type of fraud in the future.
“The biggest thing that needs to happen is that the laws from the state legislature need to go on the record,” Adams said. There should be “a simple set of checks and balances, verify the document, verify the signature, verify who owns the house.”
The Wake County Sheriff’s Department is now investigating the case and the county Register of Deeds office has pledged to help in any way they can, but they remain limited by state law.
In a statement, the office said that while they sympathize with Adams, they are legally required to record any act that meets basic legal requirements. They do not have the authority to remove a document without a court order.
The Register of Deeds Office also pointed out that they offer a free fraud alert system, which notifies homeowners when any activity is registered in their name. Unfortunately for Adams, the fraudulent work did not include his name, so no alerts were triggered.
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