The local news media outlets seem to be waking up to the sovereign scammers but no one seems to want to actually do anything about the problem of bogus filings.
A sovereign citizen pays 70 cents to file a certificate of title and then waits for someone from a title company trying to close a sale on the same property to send him a letter requesting he sign a quit claim deed to clear the title, said David Heine of Orlando's PCS Title in a missive sent to clients around the state.
"He agrees, however, it will cost the selling bank $1,500 to $2,000 even though he has no legal right to the property," Heine said. "Here is where 'we' facilitate the scam. Rather than lose the sale of a foreclosed property the bank agrees to pay the money as it is much less costly to pay him to go away than pay to straighten this out through legal means."
Lawyers say the filing of such deeds is legal, but banks can sue for slander of title.
"Slander of title suits are civil actions in which perpetrators can be liable for damages," said Lee Husagh, the former president of the Florida Land Title Association. "But most of these screwballs don't have any money to begin with. So judgments often end up being worthless."
The Honorable Judge Roy Bean The world is a car and you're a crash-test dummy. The Devil Makes Three
Judge Roy Bean wrote:A sovereign citizen pays 70 cents to file a certificate of title . . . Lawyers say the filing of such deeds is legal
At least here, the filing of any document affecting title would require the signature of the owner of record. Why isn't that forgery? Or are there places where the owner need not sign it?
Liens are another matter - they generally don't require the signature of the property owner - but more and more jurisdictions have enacted criminal statutes covering false liens.
"A wise man proportions belief to the evidence."
- David Hume
On paper, Jacob-Franz Dyck is one of the largest property owners in Florida. More than 600 deeds have been filed in the name of trusts he controls in 17 counties, including eight in Sarasota and Manatee.
...
Dyck -- a man stripped of his dental license in 1988 and imprisoned for six years for grand theft a decade later -- has alarmed law enforcement officials.
They say he and members of his anti-government group are committing "paper terrorism" by clogging courts with an avalanche of almost unintelligible lawsuits and "wild deeds" that purport to protect property by placing it into "pure trusts" defended by "land patents."
...
"He's created a lot of havoc for a lot of people," said Robert Syversen, a resident of upstate New York who solicited Dyck to help save his South Glen Falls home from foreclosure and ended up in trouble for filing a lawsuit accusing a federal judge of fraud.
"He gets you into this stuff and then isn't around when you need him."
The Honorable Judge Roy Bean The world is a car and you're a crash-test dummy. The Devil Makes Three
I've been away from the practice of real estate law for quite some time; but why would a deed such as the ones Dyck is filing matter in the slightest? Unless he is forging signatures, even a cursory search of the title to one of "his" properties would show that he has no authority to grant the deed, which is thus null and void.
"We've been attacked by the intelligent, educated segment of the culture." -- Pastor Ray Mummert, Dover, PA, during an attempt to introduce creationism -- er, "intelligent design", into the Dover Public Schools
A lot of these schemes are being foisted on desperate people by promoters of sovereign mythology.
In a federal sentencing hearing in Charlotte last week, a woman accused of participating in a massive mortgage fraud scam told the court she couldn't be sentenced because she was a sovereign entity representing herself. Alicia Taylor, who prosecutors said helped facilitate fraudulent loans in the Operation Wax House scheme, had filed paperwork declaring her special status. As authorities handcuffed her and led her from the courtroom, she told the judge he lacked jurisdiction to sentence her.
Note: Taylor was indicted a year ago.
For every purely delusional promoter out there like Van Pelt, there are probably a hundred who work on bigger targets of opportunity and are making a disaster in foreclosure/REO paper trails even worse.
Title companies are reluctant to issue policies when this kind of BS has tainted the records and those properties are becoming part of a growing "shadow inventory" that are more and more difficult to actually sell.
The Honorable Judge Roy Bean The world is a car and you're a crash-test dummy. The Devil Makes Three
"Within 90 days of a Certificate of Title being recorded, Mr. Dyck and his 'army' of accomplices create a Warranty Deed transferring title to the property from himself to one of many trusts in which he is the trustee," David Heine, vice president of Orlando-based PCS Title, wrote in a warning letter to clients.
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Dyck said he had been working with a half dozen associates. But after being warned by an FBI agent to stop mass producing his filings, Dyck said he disassociated himself with his former colleagues and is now working alone.
"The FBI told me if I stopped sending people out, they would leave me alone," Dyck said.
The Honorable Judge Roy Bean The world is a car and you're a crash-test dummy. The Devil Makes Three
Judge Roy Bean wrote:The local news media outlets seem to be waking up to the sovereign scammers but no one seems to want to actually do anything about the problem of bogus filings.
A sovereign citizen pays 70 cents to file a certificate of title and then waits for someone from a title company trying to close a sale on the same property to send him a letter requesting he sign a quit claim deed to clear the title, said David Heine of Orlando's PCS Title in a missive sent to clients around the state.
"He agrees, however, it will cost the selling bank $1,500 to $2,000 even though he has no legal right to the property," Heine said. "Here is where 'we' facilitate the scam. Rather than lose the sale of a foreclosed property the bank agrees to pay the money as it is much less costly to pay him to go away than pay to straighten this out through legal means."
Lawyers say the filing of such deeds is legal, but banks can sue for slander of title.
"Slander of title suits are civil actions in which perpetrators can be liable for damages," said Lee Husagh, the former president of the Florida Land Title Association. "But most of these screwballs don't have any money to begin with. So judgments often end up being worthless."
You sound a little pro-bank there JRB!!
Maybe you should get on Dave RAMSEY's website some time. He actually promotes the double-enrichment of the banksters.
Judge Roy Bean wrote:The local news media outlets seem to be waking up to the sovereign scammers but no one seems to want to actually do anything about the problem of bogus filings.
A sovereign citizen pays 70 cents to file a certificate of title and then waits for someone from a title company trying to close a sale on the same property to send him a letter requesting he sign a quit claim deed to clear the title, said David Heine of Orlando's PCS Title in a missive sent to clients around the state.
"He agrees, however, it will cost the selling bank $1,500 to $2,000 even though he has no legal right to the property," Heine said. "Here is where 'we' facilitate the scam. Rather than lose the sale of a foreclosed property the bank agrees to pay the money as it is much less costly to pay him to go away than pay to straighten this out through legal means."
Lawyers say the filing of such deeds is legal, but banks can sue for slander of title.
"Slander of title suits are civil actions in which perpetrators can be liable for damages," said Lee Husagh, the former president of the Florida Land Title Association. "But most of these screwballs don't have any money to begin with. So judgments often end up being worthless."
Maybe it's time to make wilful slanders of title (i.e., liens or deeds which a reasonable person would know to be false or invalid) a criminal offense. These jerks may be able to brush off a judgment; but they can't brush off some time in the Graybar Hotel, and seizure of whatever property they have to pay any fines imposed.
"We've been attacked by the intelligent, educated segment of the culture." -- Pastor Ray Mummert, Dover, PA, during an attempt to introduce creationism -- er, "intelligent design", into the Dover Public Schools
Maybe it's time to make wilful slanders of title (i.e., liens or deeds which a reasonable person would know to be false or invalid) a criminal offense. These jerks may be able to brush off a judgment; but they can't brush off some time in the Graybar Hotel, and seizure of whatever property they have to pay any fines imposed
Absolutely agree!
Goodness is about what you do. Not what you pray to. T. Pratchett
Always be a moving target. L.M. Bujold
Dyck, the Times has learned, has filed more than 100 "wild deeds" laying claim to properties in Osceola county. The deeds bear no signatures of the rightful homeowners or any evidence of their consent.
Light travels faster than sound, which is why some people appear bright, until you hear them speak.
but no one seems to want to actually do anything about the problem of bogus filings.
Which raises the question: What can be done about the problem of bogus filings? Wouldn't the ACLU be all over it if a class of citizens were singled out? Don't get me wrong, I wish there were something that could be done, but I'm just not sure how it would work.
I sure hope someone brilliant comes up with something quick before I suffocate in paper.
Assuming you're successful in your present action, you could try asking the judge to direct the county clerk of your county not to accept any further filings affecting title to your land without an order.
The judge may not do it, but it can't hurt to ask.
"A wise man proportions belief to the evidence."
- David Hume
After clouding the property titles of strangers and impeding the foreclosure efforts of banks, Jacob Franz Dyck could land behind bars over a missing pickup truck.
Polk county authorities have filed an arrest warrant for Dyck, whose location is unknown, on a third-degree felony charge of committing criminal acts through simulated use of the legal process.
