Deed theft: how it happens and how to report it

Deed theft is the transfer of a home's title without the owner's real consent — a forged signature on a deed, or a document the owner was tricked into signing. Once the deed is recorded, the thief can borrow against the house or sell it, and the family living there can find itself facing eviction from a home it owns. New York's Attorney General counted roughly 3,000 deed-theft complaints in the city from 2014–2018, 45% of them from Brooklyn, and complaints have kept climbing since. It targets the same neighborhoods this site maps: older one- to four-family homes in central Brooklyn, southeast Queens and the Bronx, often owned outright by seniors.

How the scam usually works

• The forged deed. Someone records a deed transferring your property to themselves or a shell LLC, with a forged signature and a notary stamp. You find out when a tax bill stops coming, a stranger's mortgage shows up, or a marshal's notice arrives.
• The 'rescue'. A homeowner behind on the mortgage, taxes or water bills is offered help — a refinance, a loan, a way to 'pause' foreclosure. Among the papers is a deed. The owner signs believing it is something else.
• The estate grab. After an owner dies, a relative or stranger records a deed the owner supposedly signed before death, or exploits heirs who never formally transferred title.
• The rent-to-own or sale-leaseback. The owner is told they can sell, stay as a tenant, and buy back later. The buy-back never happens; the eviction does.

Warning signs

• Your property-tax bill or water bill stops arriving, or arrives in someone else's name.
• Mail about a mortgage, refinance or line of credit you never applied for.
• A notice of eviction, foreclosure or a court date on a home you own free and clear.
• Unsolicited offers to buy the house, 'help with' the mortgage, or 'take the property off your hands' — especially if you are behind on payments or the house is in an estate.
• Anyone asking you to sign papers at home, quickly, without your own lawyer.

Check your own deed right now

Every deed and mortgage recorded in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx is public in ACRIS, the City Register's database (Staten Island records are with the Richmond County Clerk). Search by address or by the borough-block-lot on your tax bill and read the list of recorded documents. Anything you do not recognize — a deed, a mortgage, a power of attorney — is the moment to act. Find A Crib's building pages carry the BBL for every rent-stabilized building in the city, which is the number ACRIS wants.

The free alert that catches it early

The Department of Finance runs the Notice of Recorded Document Program: register your property once and the city emails, texts or mails you the day after any deed, mortgage or related document is recorded against it. It is free, and it is the single most effective protection there is, because a forged deed is far easier to undo in the first week than after a mortgage has been taken out on it. Sign up at a836-acrissds.nyc.gov/NRD. Owners, heirs, executors, attorneys and managing agents can all register.

How to report deed theft

Report it to more than one place — the agencies below do different things, and the first days matter.

1. Mayor's Office of Deed Theft Prevention (in the Department of Finance) — complete the Deed Theft Prevention Intake Form at nyc.gov/deedtheft. This office coordinates the city's response and will help you with the steps below.
2. NYC Sheriff's Office, Bureau of Criminal Investigation — (718) 707-2100. The Sheriff investigates recorded-document fraud citywide. If the theft involves a break-in, violence or threats, call the NYPD (911) first.
3. Your borough's District Attorney. Deed theft is a felony under New York's 2023 deed-theft law. Brooklyn's DA runs a dedicated line, the Action Center at (718) 250-2340 (9am–5pm) and publishes a deed-fraud guide; the other four DAs take reports through their main offices.
4. New York State Attorney General — hotline 1-800-771-7755, or the online deed-theft complaint form. The AG's Protect Our Homes initiative screens complaints and brings civil and criminal cases, and can move to void a fraudulent deed and pause a related eviction or foreclosure.
5. Get a certified copy of the fraudulent document from the City Register (call 311, or write to NYC Department of Finance, Office of the City Register, 66 John Street, 13th Floor, New York, NY 10038). You will need it for every step above.
6. Get a lawyer. Free help is available: call the state's homeowner hotline at 1-855-466-3456 or visit HomeownerHelpNY to be matched with a legal-services or housing-counseling group near you.

If you are a tenant

Deed theft also lands on renters: a new 'owner' appears, demands rent, or starts an eviction. Do not pay anyone whose name is not on the deed in ACRIS. Your lease and your rent-stabilized protections survive a change in ownership, fraudulent or not — and if the deed was stolen, the eviction has no standing. Tell the real owner, and call the numbers above yourself.

Where to get help

The agencies above, a real-estate attorney, or a legal-aid organization. This page is general information about deed theft in New York City, not legal advice.

Official sources

• Mayor's Office of Deed Theft Prevention — NYC Department of Finance
• Notice of Recorded Document Program — sign up for deed and mortgage alerts
• NYC311 — Property Deed or Record Theft
• New York State Attorney General — Homeowners and deed theft
• Brooklyn District Attorney — Deed Fraud Information and Resources

Find A Crib is an informational tool, not a law firm. This guide is general information about deed theft in New York City, not legal advice. For your specific situation, contact the agencies above or an attorney.