A North Carolina woman accused of fraudulently transferring the deed of a $4 million property into her name claims she believed the home was abandoned, and this has raised concerns for homeowners the frequency of such schemes.
According to a Daily Mail report, Dawn Mangum, of Raleigh, allegedly changed the deed of a $4.5 million home owned by Dr. Craig Adams, a local dentist, without ever meeting him in person.
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Mangum was arrested on felony charges for attempting to secure the property by false pretense, but now claims the situation was actually a misunderstanding.
Mangum also says she thought the home was foreclosed and available when she went on to transfer the deed. She revealed the details of the situation to ABC11, and said, “My thing is not to take anyone’s home but to find abandoned property and restore it.” She claimed she stopped all paperwork as soon as she realized the home was not actually in foreclosure.
Despite Mangum’s claims, Adams is now facing a legal battle to reclaim full ownership of what he believes is his. Under North Carolina law, Adams must take the matter to civil court, a process that could cost him around $8,000. “Something like this makes you feel violated, vulnerable, frightened,” he told WRAL. ‘So many of my patients come in and say: “How does this happen? It’s absurd.”, he added.
Mangum allegedly filed the deed transfer with the Wake County Register of Deeds after Adams listed his 8,300-square-foot home for sale. Adams on the other hand strongly believes the alleged amateur ‘fraudster’ intended to use the fraudulent deed to squat in the home and eventually delay eviction.
Adams also said Mangum was not required to provide proof of ownership when submitting the paperwork to the Deeds office, and no inquiry was made about the property’s actual owner. “If there had been just this one simple check, my name would have popped up,” he said, expressing frustration at the lack of accountability with regards to his situation.
Adams only learned about the deed transfer when a property management company, contacted by the alleged amateur ‘fraudster’ for gate access to the neighborhood, alerted his neighbor. “I probably would never know,” he said. “That’s pretty scary for North Carolina citizens because anyone can go downtown and make a false claim for someone else’s property.”
Even after notifying the Register of Deeds of the fraudulent filing, Adams was told that the issue could only be resolved through the courts. A county spokesperson revealed to WRAL that the Register of Deeds is ‘not required to verify the legal validity of a deed when it is presented for registration, nor are they required to verify the credentials or legal standing of the notary or drafters of the document.’
“With more than 500 documents processed daily, it would be impossible to verify the legitimacy of each document or the credentials of each notary,” the spokesperson said. “Register of Deeds staff are not attorneys and are explicitly barred from giving legal advice or acting as attorneys in verifying documents.”
Once fraudulent deeds are discovered, the office freezes any changes to the tax information on the property and also notifies law enforcement.
Attorney Cara Dudek-Petri Gibbons told WRAL that deed fraud, while rare, is a concern for homeowners, particularly those who own paid-off properties or properties held by LLCs. “Victims of fraud have to spend money to clean up something that you did nothing to have happen to you,” she said.
Despite the pending criminal charges, Adams must proceed through civil court to fully restore the deed to his name, and although the situation looks frustrating, he is set to pursue it in order to fully clinch back what is rightfully his. Mangum is however scheduled to return to criminal court on October 8, and many in North Carolina will be eyeing how the issue unfolds in the coming days.
