Deed Theft in NYC: How to Protect Your Home

The best protection against deed theft in New York City is free: register your property with the Department of Finance's Notice of Recorded Document Program, and you get an email the day after any deed, mortgage or lien is recorded against it. If a notice shows a document you didn't sign, report it to the NYC Sheriff right away at (718) 707-2100.

This guide explains how the scam works, the warning signs, the alert program, what New York law now says, and exactly who to call.

How deed theft works

Deed theft is when someone takes title to a home without the owner's knowledge or real consent. The New York Attorney General describes two main routes:

• Forgery. A thief fakes the owner's signature on a deed and records it. On paper the thief now owns the house, and may borrow against it or sell it to someone else.
• Fraud. The owner signs something they don't understand, often after a false promise of help with debts, foreclosure or repairs. The paper turns out to be a deed.

Under New York law, deed theft also covers forged or falsified documents used to finance a property, such as a fake mortgage. The City Register reviews documents and reports suspicious ones to the Sheriff, but it is required to record any document that meets the recording rules. A recorded deed is not proof that a sale was real.

Who gets targeted

Anyone can be a victim. Both the Department of Finance and the Attorney General say seniors, immigrants and people of color are most at risk. The Attorney General also lists properties that are:

• vacant or abandoned
• in foreclosure
• carrying tax or utility liens
• still in the name of an owner who died, because the heirs never transferred title

Warning signs

These red flags come from the Attorney General and the Department of Finance:

Sign up for the free recorded-document alert

The Department of Finance runs the Notice of Recorded Document Program for all five boroughs. Once you register, the City Register notifies you when a covered document is recorded against your property. According to the program's FAQ:

• It is free. Registration and email or mail notices cost nothing. Text message rates may apply.
• Email is fastest. You get a confirmation email, usually within 15 minutes, and later notices arrive the day after a document is recorded. Add [email protected] to your safe senders list.
• Mail is available. Ask for notices by mail with the "Notice by Mail of Recorded Document" application. Call 311 if your mail confirmation hasn't arrived within two weeks.
• Register each property separately, by address or by borough-block-lot (BBL).
• Anyone you trust can be added. Owners can name a designee, such as a child, spouse or lawyer. The managing agent, a lienholder and an estate's executor can also register.
• It lasts until you cancel it.

Covered documents include deeds, correction and life-estate deeds, contracts and memoranda of contract, mortgages and mortgage consolidations, satisfactions, initial UCC-1 filings, court orders, judgments and powers of attorney.

Check your deed yourself once a year

The Department of Finance recommends checking the City Register's records at least once a year. For Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens, search your property on ACRIS. Staten Island records are kept by the Richmond County Clerk. You need your BBL, which is on your property tax bill. Our step-by-step guide shows how: How to find your deed on ACRIS.

You can also look up your building on Roofy's NYC building lookup. The property page shows the owner of record from city planning data and recorded sales from the Department of Finance. If a sale appears that you never made, or the owner name is not yours, pull the actual documents on ACRIS right away.

If you think your deed was stolen: act in this order

1. 1

   Report it to the NYC Sheriff

   Call (718) 707-2100 or use the Department of Finance online complaint form. The Sheriff’s Office investigates deed fraud in NYC. The Department of Finance says to act quickly.
2. 2

   Get a certified copy of the suspicious document

   Order it through ACRIS or at a City Register office (Staten Island: the Richmond County Clerk). Certified copies are $4 per page. Investigators and courts will want it.
3. 3

   Report the crime to the district attorney

   File with the DA’s office in the borough where the property is.
4. 4

   Contact the NY Attorney General

   Call 1-800-771-7755, email [email protected], or use the AG’s online complaint form. For free counseling and legal help, the state’s Homeowner Protection Program (HOPP) is at 855-466-3456.
5. 5

   Talk to a real estate attorney you chose yourself

   You may need to go to court to void the fake deed and restore your title. Also call your title insurance company if you have an owner’s policy.

What New York law now says

New York has added deed theft to its criminal and housing laws. You don't need to know the sections by number, but they matter if you are ever in court:

• Deed theft is a named form of larceny. Penal Law §155.05 now defines deed theft as forging or falsifying a deed or other document used to transfer or finance real property, pretending to be the owner to get the property, or taking title by fraud, forgery, false promise or another deceptive practice.
• It is a felony regardless of the home's value. Deed theft of one residential property is grand larceny in the second degree, a class C felony (§155.40). Deed theft of a home where at least one person lives, a home owned by an elderly person or by a person who is physically disabled, incapacitated or legally incompetent, or three or more homes is grand larceny in the first degree, a class B felony (§155.42).
• Eviction or title cases can be paused. Under Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law §756-a, a court must pause a case to take possession of a home or settle its title while related deed theft or fraud charges, or a government civil case about the title, are pending. In an eviction case where there is a good-faith dispute over who owns the home, the court must grant a 90-day stay so the ownership claim can be filed in the right court. The dispute is presumed to be in good faith if that person owned the property within the past three years. A government agency investigating the fraud can also ask for a stay.

Prevention habits that actually work

• Register every property you own, including any home you inherited, in the Notice of Recorded Document Program.
• Keep your mailing address current with the Department of Finance so tax and water bills reach you.
• Update the deed after an inheritance. Homes still in a dead relative's name are a top target. See inheriting a house in New York.
• Keep your will current, and consider a transfer-on-death deed, which New York now allows. Ask a lawyer whether it fits your plans.
• Buy an owner's title insurance policy when you purchase. See title insurance explained.
• Visit or have someone check on vacant property regularly.
• Never sign papers about your home without your own lawyer reading them, and talk to family before changing ownership or taking a new mortgage.

Related: how to search ACRIS by address or BBL, reading ACRIS mortgages and liens, and real estate wire fraud.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. If you think your home has been stolen, contact the Sheriff and a lawyer right away.