A ELDERLY homeowner had his property put on the market without his knowledge after someone impersonated him and hired two real estate agents.
The 95-year-old’s great-niece, Melissa Walsh, attempted to rent her great uncle’s Toronto, Canada home after he moved into a long-term care home in 2021.
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They hired two real estate agents from a local brokerage, Royal LePage, but that is when “the ultimate real estate nightmare” started, claimed Walsh, according to CBC in 2023.
The renters of the home allegedly used fake identity documents and references for their lease application so they could scam the Walsh’s.
Cops referred to the fraudsters as “ghosts” after having no luck finding them, Walsh said.
In a chaotic turn of events, only weeks later, the family was shocked to learn that an imposter had allegedly pretended to be the 95-year-old homeowner and hired two real estate agents from a different Royal LePage brokerage.
The scammers allegedly listed the home for sale without the knowledge of the family.
They were even able to allegedly enter the home and stage it with furniture.
It was advertised for $1.29 million and as it gained popularity, an offer was made for a whopping $1.9 million, according to the outlet.
Walsh was shocked by the news and recalled the moment she had found out what happened.
“I can’t even form words to describe that moment at that time because it’s just so unbelievably out there,” Walsh said.
“You’re going, ‘What happened? What’s going on?'”
Thankfully, the family was able to stop any sales from going through on the property before it was too late, but they were told that this wasn’t the first scam of its kind.
A similar incident happened with two other Canadian homeowners and in an email viewed by the outlet, a Toronto Police Service detective told Walsh the two cases are “related.”
Allegedly the fake name that used to rent her great uncle’s home was also used in the second scam.
“At first, we thought it was mostly just a handful of real estate agents that weren’t doing their job, but then after hearing about this other house, I think there’s definitely a deeper problem with the real estate industry,” Walsh said.
How can your home be sold without your consent?
Your home can be sold from under you for various reasons – here are three key things to look out for:
Tax Sale
- A tax sale is the sale of property by a governmental entity to recover unpaid taxes by the owner who has reached a certain point of delinquency in their owed payments.
- Before a tax sale takes place, there is a right-of-redemption period where the owner can pay off their debt and reclaim their home.
- Each state has different laws surrounding tax sales but in most areas, the basic requirement is that adequate notice is given to the owner to pay the outstanding money, and any sale must be open to the public.
Foreclosure
- Foreclosures can take place when lenders take control of a property after borrowers have failed to make their repayments.
- Borrowers will receive a Notice of Default, triggering the foreclosure process.
- Homeowners in HOA communities can also see their homes foreclosed by their HOA for falling behind on fees.
- This means that even if you keep up with mortgage repayments, you could still lose your home if your HOA has a lien on your property.
- When such a foreclosure takes place, the sale price only needs to be enough to cover the HOA debt meaning that properties can be sold for much less than they are worth.
Property Fraud
- Criminals can use a fake or stolen ID to impersonate a homeowner in order to sell or mortgage homes.
- Typical targets for property fraud include absent owners like landlords, owners who live abroad, and sole owners of unmortgaged homes.
- The U.S. Sun previously reported on a man whose vacation home worth $300,000 was sold by criminals for just $9,000 – they even had the deed to the property.
A DEEPER ISSUE
Walsh was skeptical about this incident and thought it raised questions about whether real estate agents do enough to verify a potential renter, buyer, and seller.
She explained to the outlet that the documents provided by the tenants and impersonator allegedly had red flags that real estate agents should have noticed.
One jarring error included the impersonator spelling Walsh’s great uncle’s name wrong twice on documents, she claimed.
The companies where the two scammers were allegedly employed barely had an online presence and did not have a website, according to the outlet.
The two licenses provided by the tenants came up as “not found,” meaning they were not recognized as Ontario license numbers.
The license number provided by the person impersonating the homeowner was “not valid,” meaning it had been suspended, cancelled, or expired.
A spokesperson for Royal LePage stated to the outlet that the company does not oversee the daily activities of its brokerages, as they are all independently owned and operated.
However, all licensed sales representatives are required to adhere to industry regulations and perform due diligence as set forth by the regulatory body.
“This very unfortunate incident was clearly a coordinated scheme aiming to take advantage of real estate professionals and an innocent family,” communications director Anne-Elise Cugliari Allegritti told CBC.
“The Royal LePage agents in question followed all due protocol and had no reason to suspect that any suspicious activity had taken place.”
There have been many instances of homes being sold without a homeowner’s consent including one couple whose home was sold after 15 years due to an abundance of unpaid property taxes.
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