Between 2014 and mid-2023, there were 3,500 complaints of deed theft, according to numbers from the state attorney general’s office. More than 40% of those complaints concerned Brooklyn properties. Now, several Brooklyn lawmakers are campaigning for new policies to help those victims.
Deed theft, or home title theft, typically involves thieves using forgery and other scams to transfer ownership of a home out of the owner’s name. Legislation that went into effect last year made deed theft a felony, with a maximum jail sentence of 25 years.
Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso is advocating for $5 million to fund legal services for those who have lost their homes to deed theft. And Council member Sandy Nurse, who represents Bushwick and Brownsville in the chamber, says she is planning to introduce legislation that would create a website that lists every person convicted of committing larceny by title theft. The two rallied outside City Hall with Council members Chi Ossé, who represents Bedford-Stuyvesant, and Farah Louis, who represents Flatbush and East Flatbush, Tuesday to announce the push.
The measures would be the latest in the policy fight against a crime that deprives primarily older and low-income homeowners of their property.
“Deed theft is one of the most cruel crimes committed in our city,” Ossé said in a statement. “It is abuse, inflicted primarily on the seniors who built our communities.”
There are several ways unscrupulous people can steal deeds out from under homeowners. The first is forgery, for which a thief fakes a signature on a deed and files it with the city clerk. In March four people were indicted for falsifying documents to do just that. Titles are also stolen via fraud, in which homeowners are tricked into signing transfer documents.
Properties at the center of deed theft are often abandoned, are in foreclosure or have liens against them. In other cases, the homeowner has died, according to the state attorney general’s office. Scammers also target immigrants, senior citizens and people of color.
“Brooklyn will not tolerate scammers coming to our borough to prey on vulnerable Black and brown homeowners and steal their homes from right under their nose,” Reynoso said in a statement.
The rapid gentrification of neighborhoods contributes to the issue, the borough president’s office said.
Litigating deed theft can be resource-intensive. A typical case may take 300 attorney hours and seven years to complete, according to numbers from the New York Legal Assistance Group that were distributed by Reynoso’s office.
Reynoso is pushing for the $5 million fund to be included in the city’s fiscal 2026 budget. Meanwhile, Nurse plans to introduce her legislation — which would require the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection to create a website naming those convicted of grand larceny by deed theft — at a May 28 meeting.
The two initiatives would build on other measures that have been taken at the state and city level. In 2023 Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation that allowed state law enforcement to pause eviction and foreclosure proceedings at a property involved in a deed theft investigation as well as implemented other rules intended to make it easier for victims to retain their ownership.
