I bought my own home – three days later it was sold from under me, I only realized when I saw workmen at the property

A HOMEOWNER claimed his property had been sold behind his back just three days after he bought it.

Jay Brandon, of St. Louis, Missouri, was wide-eyed when he spotted people working on what he thought was his home.

He paid $15,000 for the property in February 2023 but days later, the ownership had changed hands, according to local Fox affiliate KTVI-TV.

Brandon said the workers had been given instructions by the new owner.

“I was 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," he said.

Paperwork, seen by KTVI-TV, revealed the home had been transferred for $2,000.

A quitclaim deed was approved by officials at the St. Louis Recorder of the Deeds.

Brandon said there were inaccuracies in the paperwork.

He said his name was spelled wrong and the name for the witness and the new owner were identical.

“It’s sad that they could have took just an extra step to look into something,” he said.

“They could see the signature is day and night.”

A spokesperson for the St. Louis Recorder of the Deeds told The U.S. Sun: "This office does go the extra mile to help thwart fraudulent activities.

"We work within the framework as prescribed by the State of Missouri statutes and internal policies and procedures at all times.

"Missouri State law dictates that minimum standards must be met to accept the mandated legal requirements and statutory standards for filing. In the case of this filing, those requirements were met.

"This office files an average of 60,000 deeds each year, of those (less than .025 of 1%), of actual or attempted fraud.

"This office does have internal practices that deters possible criminal activities.

"However, when alerted to problem filings, we work very closely with the local authorities."

Quitclaim deeds see the ownership of a property change quickly.

Experts at Chase Bank say the transfers usually involve people who trust each other.

The deeds are a real estate tool commonly used by family members.

Quitclaim deeds are popular in cases involving marriage, wills, and divorce.

What is a quitclaim deed?

Quitclaim deeds are a useful tool for transferring ownership of property quickly.

Experts at Chase Bank have warned the mechanism is generally used by people who trust each other.

The paperwork is signed by the person transferring the property and the receiving party.

The document is signed by both parties and it is dated to make it official.

There are different scenarios where a quitclaim deed may be appropriate. These include:

• Marriage
• Divorce
• Wills
• Fixing any errors that are on property records

But quitclaim deed forms have been exploited by scammers looking to target unsuspecting homeowners.

Signatures can be forged without the homeowner's knowledge.

Documents are taken to local offices and filed before they are processed.

But scammers have been exploiting quitclaim deeds to take advantage of homeowners.

Unscrupulous fraudsters can forge signatures without the original homeowner’s knowledge.

The document is taken to a county register and it’s then filed.

County officials process the quitclaim deed, and the home's ownership is then transferred.

There are different ways homeowners can protect themselves from such fraud.

Checking property records often is a good way to spot if there has been any unfamiliar quitclaim deeds filed.

Homeowners who think they’ve been targeted should call the cops immediately.