Deed theft criminalized in New York budget bill

New York state has criminalized deed theft, with legislation written by Attorney General Letitia James making it into law after it was included in one of the state budget bills.

The law is titled the "Heirs Property Protection and Deed Theft Prevention Act of 2024," with State Sen. Zellnor Myrie, D.-Brooklyn and a 2025 candidate for New York City Mayor, as one legislative sponsor, and Assemblyman Landon Dais, D.-Bronx, the other. In New York, it is common to load unrelated legislation into the larger budget bill.

Its genesis followed several deed theft prosecutions that were limited by existing laws that did not specify it was a crime in New York. A 2021 case brought by James included allegations of residential mortgage fraud, possession of stolen property, falsifying business records and scheme to defraud.

The budget bill was signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul in April and this provision went into effect on July 19.

"Deed theft is a merciless crime that robs New Yorkers of their homes, communities, and financial stability," James said in a press release. "By making deed theft the crime we know it to be, this law gives my office and district attorneys more power to stop these scammers from taking advantage of hardworking people."

The new law creates three categories of grand larceny regarding allegations of deed theft, all felonies. It also extends the statute of limitations to prosecute deed theft crimes to five years of when the theft allegedly took place; or, within two years when the rightful homeowner realizes the act occurred, whichever is later.

The state attorney general's office also gained "concurrent original jurisdiction" to enforce the new law, along with the county district attorneys.

A companion bill that enhanced civil enforcement, including implementing foreclosure protections, was signed into law by Gov. Hochul last November.

The 2024 bill also included a ban on the partition of heirs property, a growing problem that recent legislation introduced in April on the federal level also seeks to address by encouraging states to adopt laws. Heirs property, which some refer to as "tangled titles," involves estates where the original homeowner died without a will and after several generations and the current occupants do not appear on the deed.

As a result, the owners cannot obtain funds for repairs, and could also be vulnerable to tax foreclosure. Situations are created where the heirs are in dispute if the property is to be sold.

"No partition action related to an heirs property may be initiated by a party that purchased or otherwise acquired their share or shares by means other than inheritance, and who did not inherit their share or shares directly from a person who was a co-tenant prior to the property becoming heirs property or from a co-tenant who was an heir thereto," the added section of New York State law reads.

This new law also comes several weeks after the July 12 sentencing of accused deed theft ring participant Marcus Wilcher.

Wilcher pleaded guilty to grand larceny in the second degree on May 23. State Supreme Court Judge Leigh Cheng sentenced him to three to nine years in prison for his role in the deed theft ring and for the theft of two additional properties in Queens County, a part of New York City.

(In New York, the Supreme Court is a trial court, not an appellate court.)

After the original indictment, it was discovered Wilcher participated in two more deed thefts, with one charge prosecuted by James' office and the other by Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.

"Marcus Wilcher and his associates targeted elderly and vulnerable New Yorkers with a predatory scheme that inflicted significant financial and emotional harm," James said in a press release issued after sentencing. "New Yorkers work their entire lives to secure a home, and deed theft threatens to rob them of the generational wealth they have built for their families."

Of the others indicted with Wilcher, Anyekache Hercules, who was previously convicted of deed theft in Kings County (Brooklyn), also pleaded guilty to grand larceny in the second degree and is scheduled to be sentenced in September to one and a half to three years in prison.

Jerry Currin and Dean Lloyd pleaded guilty to felony counts of offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree.

The lone remaining defendant, mortgage loan officer Stacie Saunders, is awaiting trial and is considered innocent until proven guilty, James' office said.