11 Comments

1. 

   Charlie on June 25, 2011 at 1:20 pm

   Thank you for sharing our story.

   The Zahari Family
   http://www.mystolenhome.com

2. 

   shadash on June 25, 2011 at 1:21 pm

   Banks are going to learn that there is no honor among thieves.

3. 

   FreedomCM on June 25, 2011 at 2:49 pm

   I thought that this is what title insurance is for!

   Can the new ‘owners’ sue the title company to perform?

4. 

   Daniel(theotherone) on June 25, 2011 at 5:04 pm

   They should do a litigation check to see if there is a quiet title action pending and join it if one is pending. If not, they should file their own quiet title action and get the court to settle the issue.

5. 

   Mark on June 25, 2011 at 5:08 pm

   “But title companies don’t really guarantee titles. They only pay up if you lose the home because of a title problem.”

   So they don’t but they do? I’m confused.

   Also, they don’t seem to explain how the scam worked. So someone “stole” the house and sold it to them, but how does a house get stolen in the first place? Lousy reporting.

6. 

   David on June 25, 2011 at 5:19 pm

   Something similar happened here: http://www.sdlookup.com/Property-BB38B5D1-863_Van_Nuys_St_San_Diego_CA_92109

7. 

   YetAnotherMike on June 25, 2011 at 5:26 pm

   I feel for this family. They bought owner’s title insurance, so they have some financial protection if they can get the title insurer to honor the policy. It may take a long time to resolve, though–maybe years.

   The family is under stress but it looks like they are making a martyrdom case out of it. They are getting their 15 minutes of fame by seeking publicity, but they really need a good lawyer to protect their interests. They talk about not being able to afford a lawyer, but they look pretty prosperous.

8. 

   Jim the Realtor on June 25, 2011 at 6:28 pm

   How it was done:

   The scam artist filed a trustee’s deed, which made it look like she bought it at the court house steps for cash (they are mailed to the winners within 2 weeks after the trustee sale).

   She made the sales price $200,000 on the trustee’s deed, waited her 90 days, and then sold it FHA to the Zaharis for $263,500.

   It looked like a typical flip, and the scam artist walked with the $263,500 less costs.

   Because it was a trustee’s deed, the title company must have assumed that it came from the first mortgage holder’s trustee – and that there were no other senior encumbrances (juniors are washed out). They then insured the resale to the Zaharis.

   The scam artist must be looking for vacant houses.

   The last experience I had with First American was all about the fight, even though their employee said that they made a mistake, and recommended that we file a claim. Once it got to the legal department, the lawyer made it clear to me on the phone that her only goal was to wear us out financially, and blame me for the omission of a critical road easement.

9. 

   Sushi on June 26, 2011 at 12:26 pm

   Title insurance is one of the biggest dirty secrets in real estate. Title rarely pays up on claims, instead they hire lots of attorney’s and wear down the injuried party, the one that paid them for insurance, can you believe it, it’s a giant scam. All those cute title rep street walkers, they don’t even know what they are supposedly selling is a joke, a lender requirement, insurance to protect the lender and the title company, not the buyer who paid for it, it’s a dirty business. By the way, what the hell does a title rep street walker do anyway?

10. 

    sdbri on June 27, 2011 at 4:45 pm

    What’s the point of title insurance if it only pays out *after* you lose a house? This is like offering passengers life insurance instead of life boats on the Titanic.

    The funniest thing is you have to buy title insurance if you refinance. This makes absolutely no sense when you bought title insurance the first time around.

    I wouldn’t have bought title insurance the first time either if it wasn’t required. What a joke.

11. 

    Jeeman on June 28, 2011 at 5:41 pm

    YetAnotherMike,

    What can they do? The bank and title insurance company are gonna try to save their own butts…not the Zaharis’. The real option right now is to get the public on your side and cause antipathy towards those businesses. Then reimbursing them for $30k + expenses will be a drop in the bucket compared to the business they could lose.

    I would probably do the same thing, if I was screwed like that.