The owner found out that he no longer owned his property after a neighbour contacted to ask whether he had sold it and informed him that a woman had requested gate access codes. Picture: Pexels
Home ownership in these times is, for many, a far-off dream. But one man learned the hard way that his might actually be a nightmare.
Dentist Dr Craig Adams of North Carolina, in the United States, claims that a woman he has never met filed court documents claiming ownership of his home (around R69,292,400) and obtained the deed to it.
In a report by ABC 7 Chicago, Adams first found out that he no longer owned his property after a neighbour contacted to ask whether he had sold it and informed him that a woman named Dawn Mangum had requested gate access codes.
The deed had supposedly been received properly through the Register of Deeds and could not be revoked.
“They say there’s absolutely nothing they can do to reverse this. Once it’s filed their only solution is that I have to go hire a private attorney, and the first quote I got was about $8,000 (about R138,517) to file a civil suit against this woman,” he was quoted as saying.
Adams reportedly believes that Mangum’s plan was to simply squat inside the residence and use the title deed to delay the eviction process.
However, she told ABC 7 Chicago that she merely submitted paperwork for the deed because she assumed it had been left behind and the law allows anyone to obtain foreclosed properties.
The local Register of Deeds allegedly did not bother completing the most basic checks before giving a deed for a home to an outsider.
Adams wants other people who live in North Carolina to learn from his story. “Anyone can go down town and make a false claim for someone else’s property.”
IOL