It might be one of the most famous estates in America, but its notoriety didn’t dissuade a Missouri woman from trying to fraudulently sell Memphis landmark Graceland, the former home of Elvis Presley.
The scheme was designed to wrest millions of dollars away from Presley’s family, according to a report by The New York Times that cites court documents (1) detailing how Jeanine Findley, 54, attempted to foreclose on Graceland.
Findley was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison after pleading guilty to one count of mail fraud in a plea agreement that saw a count of aggravated identity theft dismissed.
The scheme began about six months after Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis Presley, died in 2023, the Times reported.
A fabricated company called Naussany Investments & Private Lending LLC claimed that Lisa Marie Presley had taken out a $3.8 million loan, using Graceland as collateral, and had not repaid it before she died.
According to the Times, the affidavit filed for her arrest said Findley used various aliases, email addresses and fake documents as part of a plan to threaten to foreclose on the property. The scheme included a package containing a “creditor’s claim,” along with false affidavits sent to the Shelby County Register’s Office. A fraudulent “Notice of Foreclosure Sale” was also published in a Memphis newspaper.
It sounds impossible — how could a fraudster sell your home out from under you? But fraudulent home sales can happen.
In 2023, it was reported in Canada that private investigators working for a title insurance company found at least 30 homes in the Greater Toronto Area had been sold or mortgaged without the owners’ knowledge. According to the CBC, the investigators say in four of the cases identity theft and title transfer fraud were used to steal ownership of the homes. (2)
But not all real estate scams are so elaborate. Here are some that can impact buyers and sellers:
Title fraud: Identity theft is used to steal the title to a home, and scammers then sell or take out a new mortgage on it.
Quitclaim deed fraud: Quitclaim deeds are legal documents that can transfer an owner’s interest in a property. Fraudsters may use forged documents to transfer ownership to themselves.
Foreclosure fraud: Scammers may target people who are facing financial difficulty or foreclosure, posing as a lifeline, and in return ask you to transfer your title to them as collateral.
Another type of scam targeting home buyers involves wire transfer fraud. Cybercriminals hack into email accounts and target pending transactions, building entire fake profiles for title companies, buyers and sellers, and real estate agencies. They can then send instructions to deposit money, such as for a down payment, which ends up in the hands of the scammers.
A key way to protect yourself against real estate fraud is to protect your personal information. Be careful about what you share online, and be cautious of anyone asking for your full name, address, birth date, Social Security number or banking information.
Stay up to date with and always review your bills and bank account statements to ensure all is normal. You should also get your credit reports regularly and review them. You are entitled to receive one free report annually from each of the three national credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. There is only one website that can process requests for your free annual reports.
If you live in a place that offers free alerts for any changes made to your deed, you should sign up.
Often scammers will target vacant homes, where the owners are living out of the country or have moved to a retirement or long-term care facility. Consider asking a neighbor to check in on such a property once in a while. You may also want to set up a Google alert for the address in case it shows up on any real estate or rental websites.
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