Under current law, state and county prosecutors are bound by statutes of limitations and forced to rely on charges, like grand larceny, that do not take into account the magnitude of the crime, officials say.
Adi Talwar
Homes on Tomlinson Avenue in Morris Park, The Bronx.
Attorney General Letitia James’ office is calling on New York lawmakers to make “deed theft” an explicit crime in the state penal code to ease the prosecution of pernicious property thieves.
James’ top deputies discussed the deed theft proposal at a Senate hearing in Manhattan Thursday, where a host of lawyers and victims described the way fraudsters have used deception, forgery and tangled webs of shadow companies to steal homes and evict the rightful owners—overwhelmingly people of color in New York City’s gentrifying neighborhoods.
A “standalone crime of deed theft” would show real estate scammers that the state intends to hold them accountable, said Meghan Faux, the chief deputy attorney general for social justice.
The charge would be an “important signaling device to demonstrate the legislature’s intent that this conduct be treated criminally and not hope that prosecutorial creativity will suffice.”
Under current law, state and county prosecutors are bound by statutes of limitations and forced to rely on charges, like grand larceny, that do not take into account the magnitude of the crime, Faux said.
“Although property value is important, there are other factors, such as…
