New bill helps cover costs associated with fraudulent home theft in Philadelphia

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Mayor Cherelle Parker has signed into law a bill that would help people whose homes were stolen recover some of the cost it takes to recover their homes.

The bill refunds the transfer tax paid by those who commit the fraud of stealing people’s homes. The homeowner then has to pay for everything from legal fees to changing the locks back to their original keys.

Parker said it’s the right thing for the city to do.

“When fraudsters pay realty transfer tax to legitimize their theft and then victims spend thousands of dollars to reclaim their homes, the city shouldn’t benefit from that crime,” she said.

The thieves prey on people who can’t afford to probate a will, or who just don’t understand that the title doesn’t automatically transfer upon the death of their spouse or parent.

Councilmember Katherine Gilmore Richardson said she spent five years reclaiming two of her family properties when her parents died, including one valuable piece that shares a property line with St. Joseph’s University.

“I believe this legislation is an important cog in our wheel to continue to address and invest in the resolution of tangled titles and deed fraud in our city,” she added.

Kate Dugan with Community Legal Services said the money probably won’t cover the costs to retrieve their homes.

“Our estimation is that the average refund would probably be between [$3,000] and $5,000 based on the 3.578% transfer tax in Philadelphia and the average price of the homes that get stolen,” she said.

Dugan added that the criminals work in groups seeking out homes of unsuspecting people.

“In our experience, [the victims are] seniors, people with tax delinquencies, people with mortgage delinquencies, and especially homes where the record owner is dead,” she said.

People who aim to commit deed fraud find those homes by looking at death records and obituaries. They determine that the properties are tied up and families cannot handle untangling a title because of the cost and the process, which makes them easy targets.

The average cost to retrieve a home could total $10,000 or more.

There are approximately 10,000 homes with so-called “tangled titles,” which aren’t in the rightful owner’s name. About 75 to 100 are “stolen” every year according to city officials, who have been working hard with new programs designed to help widows, children and other rightful heirs probate the estate and take title to the properties.