Protect the American Dream

27 Mar Protect the American Dream

Generations have set the stage for us and our families to have the American dream to own our own home. To Own Property and set investments for later life, however under current regulations those dreams are being able to be taken away with no recourse to get our property back . For example , You own property, your current job takes you away from that location, you come back  months – year later to find somebody has changed the deed and you know longer own what was rightfully yours. Squatters and scammers have more right than you the property owner.  Help us protect your dream. Contact your Senator today

This is our last chance to get this bill done to protect homeowners, landowners, elderly Georgians, rural Georgians, city residents, and anyone who hopes to achieve the American Dream of homeownership in our great state.Thursday is Sine Die, which is the last day of the Legislative Session for 2024. 

HB 1292 is scheduled to be heard for a vote on the Senate floor on Thursday, but we need your help!

FALSE DEEDS: 

This bill targets a predatory real estate practice that has surfaced over the past year: the filing of fraudulent deeds.

Fake quitclaim deeds are being executed all over the state and sent through the mail. Often, the property owner has no idea their land or home has been transferred to someone else until it is too late.  This is property theft, and we cannot afford to not act to stop this.

There is no real recourse for these property owners to get their property back, and many of these individuals cannot afford to hire an attorney to represent them. This bill would provide property owners with recourse to sue for damages and the attorney’s fees it costs to cancel the false deed and reclaim their property.

● Part 1 Section 1-1 would:

● Define who is a self-filer vs. a trusted filer

○ Trusted filers are allowed to file or amend real estate deeds under this bill are attorneys or their agents, real estate agents, mortgage bankers, insurance agents, bankers, land surveyors, and state or local officials fulfilling their job duties.

○ All other citizens are self-filers.

● Self-filers will have to E-file, and this bill will require the Superior Court clerks to create rules and regulations to verify the identities of these self-filers. The proposed rules intend to address criminals’ ability to file anonymous false deeds. Right now, it is too easy to e-file or to file through the mail and never have to prove your identity. This bill would force the Superior Court Clerks to act to implement ID verification rules.

● Finally, this bill allows a property owner who has a false deed filed against their property to sue the criminal for damages for the cost of canceling the false deed and to recover attorney’s fees.  This language is incredibly important to allow low-income property owners who are being targeted to be able to hire an attorney to represent them and reclaim their property that was stolen from them.

SOLICITATION LETTERS: 

Georgia property owners are also currently receiving unsolicited mail offering to purchase their property at an amount drastically below market value, and these letters are often targeting elderly Georgians.

● Part II, Section 2–1 states:

● Letters offering to purchase your property would have to state the following information: ‘THIS OFFER MAY OR MAY NOT BE THE FAIR MARKET VALUE OF THE PROPERTY.’

● If the letter includes an offer less than the value of the previous year’s assessed value by the county tax assessor, the letter must also say: ‘THIS OFFER IS LESS THAN THE COUNTY ASSESSED VALUE FOR THIS PROPERTY.’

● The purpose of this language is to thwart the practice of scammers targeting elderly, low-income, or mentally incapacitated individuals.

● Predators are often offering $10-20,000 via mail for properties that are valued 20 times higher than the offer.

● By targeting these individuals, the scammers are hoping they will get lucky and find someone who does not know the true value of their property and will sell it at a loss.

This language is meant to create a signal to the property owners who are receiving these mailers, and it is intended to push them to their local county tax assessor’s website to learn the true fair market value of their property before they sell. If someone does sell to one of these scammers, this bill creates a mechanism for said property owner to sue for damages and recover attorney’s fees to attempt to get his or her land back.

Passing this bill is crucial to protecting the private property rights of Georgians and to put a stop to these criminals who are actively trying to steal the property of hard-working Georgians. Find a link to the full bill here. 

Please ask your State Senator to vote YES on HB 1292 with NO amendments!