Brooklyn Deed Theft Fraud To Be Investigated By State, Cuomo Says

BEDFORD-STUYVESANT, BROOKLYN — Deed fraud schemes plaguing black residents of Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights will be investigated by state officials, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced this week.

The Department of Financial Services will investigate deed fraud after a troubling New York Times report detailed how Brooklyn's African American homeowners are targeted by deceptive developers hoping to claim increasingly valuable properties.

"The illegal and deceptive actions to rob New Yorkers of their homes reported today are disgraceful and must be stopped," Cuomo said Tuesday. "Anyone found guilty of this repugnant behavior will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law."

Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams pointed to Dairus Griffiths, who said he was tricked into selling his $1.5 million Bed-Stuy brownstone for $630,000, as a reason why state intervention should have already occurred.

"The action announced by the Governor is admirable, but too many homeowners in our borough have already fallen victim to these predatory schemes, forcing them out of their homes," said Adams. "It is heartening to see the public finally acknowledge what we’ve been saying for a long time."

Deed theft has reached a "crisis moment" point in Central Brooklyn, Adams said in 2018, as real estate values soar and dubious business practices abound.

Some have even faced criminal charges, such as the NYPD officer who forged a Bed-Stuy brownstone deed and claimed ownership after its former owner died and willed it to her children, or the two Long Island men who forged deeds then sold a Clinton Hill house after a fire forced its true owners to evacuate.

Even New York City's Third Party Transfer program has played a role, according to City Councilman Robert Cornegy, who has accused the Housing Development and Preservation department of unfairly seizing black-owned Brooklyn homes.

Cornegy launched an investigation into the program after Marlene Saunders, 74, lost her Crown Heights brownstone when the city mistakenly seized it because of a record-keeping error.

Cuomo called on DFS officials also to bring foreclosure relief services to help Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights homeowners at risk, and urged Brooklynites to use the DFS foreclosure relief hotline (1-800-342-3736) to seek help.