Stiffer penalties for title fraud
Canadian Press
The Ontario government is planning to increase penalties and is calling for an amendment to the federal criminal code to protect homeowners from real estate fraud.
Government Services Minister Gerry Phillips announced today plans to increase the maximum penalty for those convicted from $1,000 to $50,000.
Phillips also is calling on the federal government to consider amending the criminal code to recognize real estate fraud as a separate offence, and establish a national database of cases.
Phillips was reacting after the Star reported how a North York widow, Susan Lawrence, lost the 100-year-old Victorian home she had lived in for 30 years through identity theft and title fraud.
He was also beating Tory MPP Joe Tascona to the punch. After reading in the Star about 89-year-old Paul Reviczky, who was shocked to learn that thieves - using a fraudulent power of attorney - had sold a home he had owned since 1980 to an unsuspecting purchaser, Tascona announced plans to introduce a private member’s bill when the Legislature convenes on Sept. 25.
Lawrence discovered in February that she had fallen victim to identity thieves who arranged the phony sale of her home in North York, put a $300,000 mortgage on the property and removed her name from the title.
Both buyer and seller appear to have been in on the scam, said Lawrence, who attended today’s announcement.
“A week later, (the bank) tried to have me evicted.”
Police are still investigating her case, but the province is intervening directly because the false mortgage still stands.
“I’ve been to court, it’s back in my name, but now I’m going to the Appeals Court because the judge would not dismiss the mortgage,” Lawrence said.
Phillips said today that the provincial government’s previous steps, such as moving to create more secure driver’s licences and the land title insurance fund, are also helping to combat the problem.
He admitted there are only 10 claims a year against that fund out of two million real estate transactions in Ontario, but said homeowners and authorities alike tell him title and mortgage fraud is a growing problem.
Today’s steps follow consultation with a government task force made up of legal, financial and real estate experts, as well as police
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