The day she thought she paid off her house, she celebrated. Now, she faces eviction.

[Jilly_in_VA]

The day she made the final payment on her house last spring, June Walker could barely contain her jubilation.

“I was running around the house, just thanking God,” said Walker, 65, who had scrimped and saved for more than two years, setting aside most of her disability check, to afford the $550 a month she needed to buy the $15,000 home.

Walker had transformed the cozy brick bungalow on Detroit’s east side since arriving in early 2019. Back then, the house had no furnace, no water heater and no plumbing under the kitchen sink. The basement was filled with sewage, she said.

By this April, Walker had made most of the major repairs. She’d gotten to know her neighborhood and loved watching her grandchildren play in the backyard. And now, after decades of homelessness, she’d made the final payment on her rent-to-own lease.

“A weight just lifted off of me,” Walker said. “It’s a small little bungalow, but when you pay for something out of your sweat and labor, you feel really good about it.”

But then, two months later, an eviction letter arrived, and the crushing truth about her house began to emerge: It’s not hers.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/fake-landlord-home-rental-scam-detroit-rcna4941

[Faux pas]

1. Kickin' with disgust!

[jimfields33]

13. Where's the damn mayor and city council in this?

They are responsible for what goes on in their city they supposedly lead.

[Lucinda]

2. ...

[Demovictory9]

3. Need to educate people about homeownership and the title search

Part

[Mr. Ected]

7. I'm a real estate closing attorney, and I approve this message

Most of the problems with real estate titles is when the parties try to handle everything without a professional. It leaves them vulnerable and their mistakes often lead to expensive title issues when they try to sell.

In this case, a title search and identify confirmation would have likely prevented this catastrophe.

[Demovictory9]

9. it's too big a transaction to cheap out on professionals... I am glad to pay for the title search,

inspection and such.

watching judge who live zooms evictions... too many evictees say "they were going to land deed the home to me"..

[keithbvadu2]

4. 1+

[Caliman73]

5. That is ridiculous.

There should be no vacant homes, especially when there are so many homeless people. If owners are not improving the property and making it livable, then the property needs to be confiscated, cataloged and then turned into affordable housing. I obviously don't know about the legalities involved but it is disgusting that everything is all about profit and there is no credence given to the lives destroyed by homelessness and by financial scams given the epidemic of vacant housing.

I understand that homes are valuable and they are investments, but they are also the lifeblood of a family or individual. They CANNOT and SHOULD not be viewed merely as commodities that people can trade, flip, and leave dormant to drive up demand. It is a sick society that values private property and profit over people's lives.

[Jilly_in_VA]

6. +1000

[burrowowl]

12. +2000

However many don't know of deed and title searches.

[boston bean]

8. Buy the title insurance for yourself. You pay for the banks title insurance

buy it for yourself at the same time.

[NullTuples]

10. In some regions, up to 75% of older 30 yr mortgages have no valid chain of ownership

Somewhat different from the OP as the ones running the scam in the 00's were the mortgage companies themselves and the recording "clearing house" they'd set up called MERS. The purpose was to allow change of ownership of the mortgage without having to refile with the county & pay the required fees. MERS was listed as the owner & the included mortgage companies simply agreed to the changes of ownership being tracked in a database. The original purpose of MERS was to circumvent the state & county laws that say changes in ownership must be recorded with the county. When a mortgage gets split into cash flow and deed holder, and then further split among thousands of investors when the debt gets bundled with countless others & offered as an investment vehicle, those county filing fees would've made the investment unprofitable.

Anyway, MERS effectively breaks the valid, legally-required chain of ownership required to provide the deed at the end of the mortgage. You'll still get one as a piece of paper; it's just that if push ever came to shove, it won't *really* be valid. Likewise, a few homeowners have used that broken chain to stop making payments. However, the outcome of those cases depended highly on the judge or arbitrator involved.

[The Jungle 1]

11. Why does our world have to have so many scum bag crooks.

Collecting money is NOT what life is about.
This filthy maggot used this woman just to make a few bucks.