ST. LOUIS – For the second time, the You Paid For It team has found a case of a homeowner scammed out of their property with the help of the St. Louis Recorder of Deeds.
Jay Brandon says he paid $15,000 for his house in north St. Louis, only to discover three days later that the ownership had been transferred to someone else through a quitclaim deed.
“Well, I purchased this home back in February. I was coming by and I was checking on my property and I saw some people working on it,” Brandon said. “I was just like, dang, so I pulled up and I asked them what was going on, and they said they had been hired by the new owner to clean out the house.”
Brandon turned to the St. Louis Recorder of Deeds, which approved the quitclaim deed and allowed the deal to go through.
“They told me I had to obtain a police report first. So, I went and got the police report from there,” he said. “I came back, and they said that I needed to talk to the assessor, and the assessor sent me to the clerk, and the clerk to the attorney general, and the attorney general back to the recorder of deeds.”
Brandon said things should never have gotten this far. There are glaring errors on the quitclaim deed. For one, Brandon’s name is wrong. His name is spelled backward on the documents.
That’s not all. The same name is given for the witness and the person receiving the property. Brandon said it’s hard to believe
“It’s sad that they could have took just an extra step to look into something. They could see the signature is day and night,” he said.
The St. Louis Recorder of Deeds wouldn’t comment on this story in light of the new case.
Instead, they referred us to the St. Louis City Counselor’s Office. They also offered no comment.
FOX 2 contacted St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office to see if they plan to take a look at these cases. They promised to get back to us.
