Mortgage Fraud

[beaconer]

To sum up, because of a court precedent set in Nov 2005 (Household Realty v. Chan) , once a document — genuine or forged (i.e mortgage) — is registered in the land titles system, it is valid. Therefore it is possible to have your property sold underneath you, if it can get to that stage.

It's amazing how the home owner is culpable when it is really the fault of the mortgage companies and other parties involved in the transaction.

It seems to have spawned a mini mortgage fraud industry in Ontario.

Hopefully, the law will be changed soon..

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(Under the related links on the right, there are also a half dozen really good articles describing the scenario).

Toronto Star- Aug 26 - Homeowner horror

Homeowner horror
'My sense of security in Canada is gone' says Paul Reviczky, who learned about identity theft the hard way
Aug. 26, 2006. 07:47 AM
HAROLD LEVY


An 89-year-old man has been left both heartbroken and betrayed after his North York bungalow was stolen from him in the rising wave of title fraud.

Paul Reviczky, who fled Hungary in 1957 to escape Communist persecution, is one of the latest homeowners to discover that Ontario law favours banks, mortgage companies and purchasers over victims of fraud.

"I was shocked to learn that this could be the law in Canada," Reviczky says. "I fled Hungary to escape lawlessness like this and now my sense of security in Canada is gone."

Gerry Phillips, Ontario's minister of government services, vowed yesterday to change the land-registry system to protect homeowners like Reviczky from title fraud.

Reviczky purchased the property at 220 Sheppard Ave. W. in 1980 for $67,500 to generate a rental income that would help pay for the education of relatives back in Hungary.

The retired tobacco farmer, who came to Canada 49 years ago with his wife Ilona and his then 3-year-old daughter Marietta, says he felt so strongly about his duty to help out the family he left behind that he specified in his will that the property could not be sold after his death because the income was to be used for their support.

Since his wife's death in February 2005, he has lived alone in his home a few kilometres from the rental property.

Reviczky could not believe his ears on June 26 when his neighbour, a real estate agent, told him she had noticed on the computer that he had sold his rental property in May.

"So I went back to my office, got the record from the computer and showed it to him," Vivian Ho told the Toronto Star. "His face turned red and I was worried that he was going to have a heart attack."

Police believe Reviczky's most recent "tenants" forged his name on a power of attorney that purported to give a grandson named "Aaron Paul Reviczky" authority to sell the home on his behalf.

"I don't have a grandson named Aaron," Reviczky says. "I don't have any grandsons."

On May 15, "Aaron Paul Reviczky" sold the property on his behalf for $450,000 to a purchaser named Pegman Meleknia, who took out a mortgage of $337,500.

"I did not get the proceeds," Reviczky says.

Reviczky's lawyer, Tonu Toome, says it was "very painful" to have to break the news to Reviczky that he may lose his house forever — even though he was an innocent victim of fraud — because Ontario law recognizes the transaction as valid where the purchaser is unaware of the scam.

"I had to tell him that although he would ultimately receive financial compensation for the loss of his home, this would entail legal fees and an application to Ontario's Land Titles Assurance Fund, which could take several years," Toome says.

Says Reviczky: "I want my home ... not just some money."

Phillips, who bears responsibility for the province's land titles registration system, says he met last week with 50 representatives of all the communities affected by title fraud — including police, real property and financial institutions — to get advice on how to stem this increasingly prevalent crime.

"This is a high priority for our government and I want people to know that we are treating it seriously," Phillips says.

Earlier this summer, several other identity-theft victims in Toronto were also shocked to discover they weren't protected by the law.

Susan Lawrence is a North York widow who faces the loss of the 100-year-old Victorian home she had lived in for 30 years — after criminals used publicly available information to sell her house without her knowledge and put a $300,000 mortgage on it.

Elizabeth Shepherd, an actress, lost her furnished Leslieville home to identity thieves, who rented the home and sold it to an accomplice after creating a false Elizabeth Shepherd. The accomplice took out a $250,000 mortgage, defaulted and disappeared.

Both women expect to spend years — and money they would rather not spend on lawyers — trying to sort out the mess.

Reviczky had put a "for rent" sign on his property on March 1 after the previous tenants who had lived there for 12 years had gone back to British Columbia.

Five days later, he agreed to rent the home to a couple who identified themselves as "Kristina and Adam Skurik." They signed rental papers and handed him $2,500 in $100 bills for first and last month's rent.

But the house remained empty. In mid-April, Reviczky says, he was told by Kristina Skurik that the couple had rented the house to someone who was coming from Russia.

The last time he ever saw either of the Skuriks was May 13, when Kristina gave him $1,250 in cash and told him the people would arrive "in a short time."

"Kristina was a very pretty, quiet girl, about 5 feet, 6 inches, and she appeared very likeable and trustworthy," Reviczky says.

A telephone check of listings throughout North America failed to turn up any Kristina or Adam Skurik.

Reviczky is now aware that he allegedly sold his house through the power of attorney that had been notarized by a North York lawyer named Sheldon Caplan, who said in an interview he is unable to discuss the case.

Reviczky says he was surprised to see at the bottom of the power of attorney — which Caplan notarized above what appears to be his scribbled initials — a notation that the document was "acknowledged before me this 18th day of April 2006 by Reviczky Paul, who is personally known to me of who has produced Drivers Licence."

"I have never retained solicitor Sheldon Caplan," Reviczky said in a statement he prepared for his lawyer. "I do not know him and did not communicate with him."

Toronto lawyer Satwant Singh Khosla, who represented the purchasers — parents who bought the property as an investment for their son — says his clients are "innocent buyers" who have suffered emotionally and financially because of the fraudulent transaction "through absolutely no fault of their own."

"It was a straightforward transaction," Khosla said. "We never realized that the power of attorney under which the property was transferred was fraudulent."

Khosla says his clients are on the hook for mortgage payments even though they have been unable to access the property because its legal status is in a state of flux.


Reviczky's daughter, Marietta Reviczky-Dolan, who lives in Montana, says people like her father should have the title returned to them and not left with the purchaser.

"They (the owners) have invested more than money in it," she says. "It is their past and their lives have been centred around it. It means more to them."

Meanwhile, the tiny house remains unoccupied and shows signs of disrepair, its yard often cluttered with garbage. It sits in a state of legal limbo while lawyers attempt to sort out the mess and the police hunt for the criminals and the $450,000 stolen along with Reviczky's heart.

Reviczky cannot even enter the home because that could technically be trespassing and police have told him that they will need consent from the new owners to enter the premises.

Toronto lawyer Sidney Troister, an expert on real estate and mortgage fraud, says the Reviczky case is perplexing because "while we can feel sorry for the first owner, we can feel equally sorry for the buyer, who like every other buyer could never be certain that their vendor is the real owner."

Troister says Ontario's land titles system is a good system, "except in the event of fraud where it breaks down, and leaves innocent owners and innocent buyers and lenders helpless and without speedy and fair relief."

"Until the province can prevent this type of fraud from happening, it must formulate a more responsive and all-inclusive compensation scheme for title fraud," Troister says.

"Innocent people, whether it is the innocent owner or the innocent buyer or lender, get hurt because the province does not protect innocent people registering documents in the system."

Ralph Roberts, a Michigan-based expert on mortgage fraud, says inroads will not be made into burgeoning real property and mortgage fraud until more homeowners and legislators become aware it exists. "There is not enough of a public awareness," he says. "People just keep getting dragged into it one after another."

Last month, state legislators in Michigan declared war against mortgage and title fraud after FBI disclosures that mortgage fraud losses in the state jumped from almost $9 million in 2003 to $26 million in 2005.

Several bills introduced in July contain an arsenal of measures, such as designating millions of dollars for investigation of unlicensed real estate brokers and making mortgage fraud a serious crime punishable by 10 years in prison for a first offence.

Mortgage and title fraud have also taken on a higher profile in Canada recently. Organizations such as the Law Society of Upper Canada have been meeting with their counterparts in the real estate and financial industries, and police authorities, to try and solve the problem.

Police forces in Greater Toronto are struggling to cope with a noticeable increase in complaints of title fraud. A report published in March 2005 by the law society says the fraud is often facilitated because the parties to the transaction may never know or actually meet each other in person.

"Without due diligence throughout the process, it is easy for fraudsters to pass themselves off and to take advantage of the lack of oversight," the report says.

"Mortgage fraud and other frauds relating to title are all on the rise," says Det. Steve Majoran of the Toronto force's fraud and forgery squad. "That's my overall impression."

Majoran advises people renting out their homes to check references and verify backgrounds "as best as you can," heeding gut feelings where an applicant puts you off, and to question offers of cash rent.

"You really have to do due diligence these days," he says.

Majoran, who cannot discuss individual cases, says title-fraud investigations can be challenging because they involve following a paper trail and tracking back through a scheme to try to determine who committed the crime, "often months after the fact."

"It's a total shock to the homeowner because the home has been stolen from under them without their knowledge — and usually without their complicity whatsoever," Majoran says.

"I found in a lot of title fraud cases that the person has worked all their life for a property and regards their home as their castle," he says. "To find it's been stolen right out from under them is totally devastating."

Gabriella Toth, who is Reviczky's niece, says she can't understand how anyone could steal an 89-year-old man's home.

"These have to be heartless persons," says Toth, a vice-principal at a Toronto high school. "I think he was targeted because he is elderly."

 

[Canuck 36]

The lawyers should be especially punished.
If they're granting POA they should be damn sure the person is actually in front of them.

If C.Y.A. (Cover Your Ass) lesson 101.

 

[beaconer]

Further, the Title Insurers, hiding behind the precedent:

Virtually all lenders these days take out title insurance. When a mortgage turns out to be fraudulent, the lenders typically turn to the title insurers for relatively quick compensation. But in the wake of the Household v. Chan case, title insurers are likely to say that the courts have ruled forged mortgages are now valid, and they are not going to pay claims based on the "valid" (but forged) mortgages.

A big snowball effect of passing the back all the way back to the owner.

The law is so obviously, blatantly flawed.

 

[beaconer]

-Mortgage fraud strikes again.

Star - Identity thieves target condo


Shocked owners hit with $250,000 mortgage
Bank says it's a victim too, refuses to wipe out debt
Oct. 7, 2006. 01:00 AM
HAROLD LEVY
STAFF REPORTER


One of Canada's largest banks is locked in a legal battle with a North York couple who lost their condo to identity thieves and are faced with a $247,860 mortgage the thieves put on their home.

The Toronto Dominion Bank acknowledged in a document filed in Superior Court last month that Seyed Aboulgasm Rabi and his wife Shohreh Shafiei are "victims of a sophisticated fraud." But the bank says it too is an innocent victim and, while it has not tried to collect on the mortgage, the couple is still legally responsible for it.

The taxpayer may ultimately cough up the funds if the couple can persuade the province's Ontario Land Titles Assurance Fund to compensate them for their mortgage liability.

This latest case of property fraud comes to light as Ontario courts and legislators are scrambling to protect homeowners from the consequences of identity theft.

The Ontario Court of Appeal has been asked to take another look at one of its decisions making homeowners responsible for the consequences of fraud — instead of banks and mortgage companies — as soon as the fraudulent documents are registered. No date has been set for the appeal.

Government Services Minister Gerry Phillips has promised to introduce this fall legislation to tighten Ontario's land titles registration system to thwart the criminals — but his draft bill has yet to see the light of day.

Shafiei and Rabi have lived with their children in a condominium in prestigious Hollywood Plaza in the Yonge St. and Sheppard Ave. area since buying it in 2001. The family owned the condo outright in late 2004 when the fraudsters struck, taking out a mortgage and disappearing with the money. On May 1, 2005, the couple's lawyer, Morris Cooper, told the bank he intended to ask a judge to restore the title to them and to nullify the fraudulent mortgage.

When the matter came to court last month, Cooper told Superior Court Justice Randall Echlin that the bank is insisting his clients assume responsibility for the mortgage and make an application to the Ontario Land Titles Assurance Fund.

"The bank is here (in court) because the (bank's) insurer refuses to pay, saying it's a valid mortgage," Cooper told the court. "They are making a bet that my client may get public money to pay this mortgage."

A TD spokesperson said yesterday that the bank stopped trying to collect on the mortgage as soon as the fraud was discovered.

Cooper, who is now representing victims of four property fraud cases in Toronto, described his clients as a "very private" couple who preferred not to be interviewed for this story.

"No matter how you rationalize it, the Toronto Dominion Bank is asking these innocent victims of mortgage fraud to be responsible for getting the bank back every last nickel that they've lost by giving money to a criminal," Cooper told the Star.

"Who do you protect — the banks or innocent homeowners who know the abuse of having their homes being sold behind their backs and risk losing their homes?"

In recent months, the Toronto Star has detailed three disturbing examples of real estate property theft in the Toronto area — two of them in North York — which have revealed that homeowners in Ontario are particularly vulnerable to this kind of crime.

The Rabi-Shafiei case is the first of a stolen condo in the Toronto area to come to the Star's attention.

Documents show that in late 2004, the Rabi-Shafieis were blissfully unaware that criminals, using their names and falsified identification documents, had retained North York lawyer Mercy Dadepo to sell their condo to an accomplice who took the name Ion Rosu.

Dadepo says in an affidavit that she completed the sale and registered the mortgage arranged by "Rosu" through the TD Bank, after receiving driver's licences from the imposters, and a driver's licence and social insurance card from "Rosu".

Dadepo, who also represented "Rosu," declined to comment while the case is before the courts but did say the pair impersonating the Rabi-Shafieis "were like a real couple."

Court documents show the Toronto Dominion mortgage is insured by First Canadian Title.

Susan Leslie, a vice president at First Canadian Title, said yesterday that this case "is an example of what can happen when the victims of fraud are not protected by title insurance."

She noted that a fraudulent mortgage is still enforceable under Ontario law. "Consequently, we are meeting our obligation to our insured (the bank) by defending the enforceability of that mortgage in accordance with the law," she said.

"If this couple had been protected, their case would be resolved quite quickly."

Cooper also faulted the bank in court for demanding that the Rabi-Shafieis pay about $40,000 in various charges on top of the close to $250,000 mortgage.

The charges, listed in an affidavit filed in court by the bank, include $34,146.69 for interest to July 21, 2006, $434.60 for insurance taken out by the bank, $74.90 for "occupancy checks" and $275 for "document review."

Cooper challenged the bank's claim that it was an innocent victim of the fraud, charging that "the transactions were so suspicious and bizarre that the bank cannot claim it was an unwitting victim."

His list of alleged red flags included: failure to transfer two designated parking spaces and storage space as part of the land transfer, payment by the fictitious purchaser and the vendors of a total of $30,000 to mortgage brokers for a standard mortgage, no record of any deposit having been paid to anyone in trust, and no lawyer's reporting letter to the "Vendors".

"None of this would have happened if the TD Bank had simply sent out an appraiser to my clients' home," he told the court. "They would have told an appraiser, `you're crazy!'"

The bank dismissed what it called "the purported regularities" in documents filed in court, as "so minor that they could not reasonably give rise to an inference that Ms. Dadepo (let alone TD Bank) had knowledge of the fraudulent circumstances."

Bank lawyer Reeva Finkel argued in court that Dadepo had inspected the seller's and purchaser's identification documents and had concluded that "everything looked normal ... everything (was) dealt with in the usual procedure."

Finkel also told Echlin that the bank had checked out Ion Rosu, the mortgagor, in the usual way, by reviewing a credit report, confirmation of income, a T5 slip from his employer and a recent pay stub, all of which later proved to be fraudulent.

"No court in this country has said you have to take extraordinary steps," she said, stressing that "there was nothing suspicious" and that, "it's clear that the bank absolutely did not have notice of the fraud."

TD spokeswoman Kelly Hechler said yesterday that it is "very sympathetic" to the Rabi-Shafieis. "Nobody is interested in seeing anyone lose their house," she said.

Hechler committed the bank "to working closely with them to resolve the matter" after the court process is completed. But she would not commit the bank to paying the couple's legal fees while they try to sort out the mess.

Asked why the bank didn't choose to swallow the fraudulent mortgage, Hechler replied, "I think there is a mandated process — a mandated process to go through."

Justice Echlin has reserved his decision on the case.

Meanwhile, the only "Ion Rosu" the Star could find in Ontario lives in Thunder Bay. He was stunned to learn that his name may have been used by criminals to steal a couple's home.

"How can they do such a thing?" he asked angrily. "And how can they make such bad use of my good name?"

 

[beaconer]

Seems like things may be finally straightening out..

Court ruling frees Toronto couple from fraudulent mortgage

A Toronto court ruling that has freed a couple from a bogus mortgage is "unprecedented" and a "breakthrough," the victims' lawyer said Wednesday.

Superior Court Justice Randall Echlin ruled Tuesday that Seyed Rabi and his wife, Shohreh Shafiei, were the innocent victims of identity thieves who placed a $247,860 mortgage on the couple's property.

Toronto lawyer Morris Cooper, who represents the couple and several other victims of mortgage fraud in Ontario, told CBC News Online the decision puts a stop to the "revictimizing of the victim."

Cooper says mortgage fraud — in this case aided by a lack of "due diligence" of the bank and the computerization of the real estate system — is an easy crime to commit.

"It's a remarkably simple crime to pull. Why put on a mask and rob a bank when you could do this [mortgage fraud]," Cooper said.

'Innocent victim'
In Tuesday's decision, the judge said that if the Toronto-Dominion Bank had exercised "due diligence," it would have detected the scam that left the couple without their home.

 

[Abeja de Almirante]

Has there been any update on this issue? I'm wondering if the prov is going to pass legislation to fix this before the winter closure, but can't find any update on line.

 

[beaconer]

Yes, the laws are slowing changing:

Toronto Star Nov 25,2006

More muscle for mortgage fraud law
Bill improvements to be debated Monday
Nov. 25, 2006. 01:00 AM
ROBERT BENZIE
QUEEN'S PARK BUREAU CHIEF


The Ontario government is "toughening up" a new law designed to curb real estate fraud, the Toronto Star has learned.

There are some 10 instances a year in Ontario of title fraud — where an innocent person's home is essentially stolen from them by fraudsters using falsified documents — and between $5 million to $7 million in fraudulent mortgages annually in the province.

The Liberal government feels it's necessary to take "additional steps" to beef up the proposed law, according to a letter sent to MPPs on the standing committee on social policy. These steps include:

Streamlining access to the Land Titles Assurance Fund, which exists to compensate those who've suffered financial loss because of errors or fraud in land titles registration, but has tended to be the ponderous "court of last resort" for duped homeowners.

Allowing only lawyers to register the transfer of a land title, instead of the current system where anyone with a licence to access the registry can do so.

Strengthening current standards of power of attorney to better guard against forgery or other fraud.

Government Services Minister Gerry Phillips has served noticed that improvements are being made to Bill 152, which is working its way through the legislative process.

Phillips' improvements to the bill will be debated at a Queen's Park committee hearing Monday.

"We're toughening it up and also making it more comprehensive," Phillips said in an interview.

The minister, who hopes the bill will pass by Christmas, emphasized the government will "keep looking on an ongoing basis whether there's additional" measures that can be taken to further protect consumers.

"We're dealing with all the aspects (of fraud). Part of it is how you prevent it ... but part of it is if you're the victim ... that you get much quicker redress," Phillips said.

In the wake of a probe led by the Star's Harold Levy, the Liberals introduced Bill 152 on Oct. 19 . Critics felt it didn't go far enough.

The proposed legislation fixes the current law, which says fraudulent property transactions based on bogus mortgages, land transfers, or powers of attorney are considered lawful upon registry with the Ontario land titles system.

The existing law means that homeowners could be on the hook for mortgages fraudulently put on their property without their knowledge — instead of the banks or mortgage companies.

As well, homeowners could lose their properties permanently to people who unknowingly bought them from criminals without being aware of the fraud.

Bill 152 will tackle those problems by making it possible to suspend or revoke access to the land titles system by suspected real estate fraudsters and by increasing provincial penalties from the current $1,000 to a maximum of $50,000.

But there had been concerns swirling around the cumbersome Land Titles Assurance Fund.

In the past, homeowners who've lost hundreds of thousands of dollars have then had to spend years and tens of thousands of dollars on legal fees to receive compensation from the fund.

Under Phillips' proposed amendment to the bill, that process will be expedited.

"What we've said is, let's get this thing working for people. We've said you can come immediately to the fund, we will within 60 days hear your case," the minister said, emphasizing that homeowners who fear they've been swindled should first file a police complaint.

"Go to the police and give us some evidence of fraudulent activity and we will within 60 days make a determination on that," he said, adding "within 30 days after that we will restore your" land title or order compensation be paid.

"I'm determined to make that a much quicker system for the public."

 

[Abeja de Almirante]

It does seem like a nutty system. If I want to buy a car, and you falsely claim to me that the car is yours by showing me the registration (either stolen or forged) and then I go to the bank and get loan or use my credit card to pay you, and then drive away in the car, only to be stopped by the police because it's been reported stolen, then I, as the buyer, am SOL. The bank still should get its money from me, and the car's owner should get his car back.

Real Estate should work the same way, buyer beware. If you buy a house, but don't confirm that the person you're buying it from actually owns it, then that's your problem. It's akin to the old Brooklyn Bridge stories, where some scammer sells you a legitmate looking title to the bridge, only to vanish with your cash. Just because you have the legitimate looking title, doesn't mean you own the bridge, and nor does it mean that the bank that leant you the money will forgive your loan.

 

[rxj71]

If it would be one of our "great" elected politicians that would lose their house, you'd see how quickly the law would change...

The banks don't care - unfortunately they're there to make profit not to care about someone's "small" problem...

What I didn't understand from any of the articles above - does this fraud occur on a paid home or one one that already has a mortgage, or does it really matter?

 

[beaconer]

And so, this story comes to a close with a happy ending...

Mortgage fraud victory

She was David pitted against Goliath, an embattled Toronto widow who took on the system and won.

Susan Lawrence won back her 100-year-old home, stolen from her on paper by identity fraudsters, when the province's highest court, in a rare move, reversed its own decision on a previous mortgage fraud.

"This is a victory for every person who owns property in Ontario," an ecstatic Lawrence, 55, told the Star yesterday from her west-end home.

Lawrence, who works in sales, received an eviction notice from Maple Trust Co. last March at the two-storey Victorian house she had lived in for 28 years. But she was never forced to leave.

"In this particular case, I think common sense has prevailed," she said.

An impostor posing as Susan Lawrence transferred the home to another impostor calling himself Thomas Wright, who in turn obtained a $291,924 mortgage from Maple Trust. The property ownership was transferred to Wright, and Maple Trust registered its mortgage against the property.

Yesterday, a panel of five judges in the Court of Appeal released a unanimous decision favouring the victimized homeowner and ordering Maple Trust to pay $25,000 toward her legal costs.

Justice Eileen Gillese summarized the case and her judgment in a nutshell: "Ownership of a person's home is fraudulently transferred. The property is then mortgaged. In a contest between the two innocent parties – the homeowner and the lender of the mortgage monies – who wins? This appeal answers that question in favour of the homeowner."

"The case is really the end of Susan's fight – that she and innocent homeowners should not be responsible for mortgage fraud," her lawyer, Morris Cooper said.

Lawrence had asked the court to reverse itself on the decision it made in the 2005 "Household Realty" case awarding rights to the mortgage company, which set the precedent for her legal predicament.

The publicity surrounding Lawrence's case "created a perfect storm of public opinion that resulted ultimately in the Legislature of Ontario amending the law last fall," Cooper said.

After media attention raised public ire about people victimized in similar ways, the province entered the fray, intervening to support Lawrence's bid to get the decision overturned.

And it backed that up by amending Ontario's Land Titles Act to clarify its intent, Government Services Minister Gerry Phillips said. "I'm pleased that the court confirmed our view that homeowners should not be subject to fraudulently obtained mortgages."

The amendment is meant to ensure that victimized homeowners get their land title restored and fraudsters have their documents declared invalid.

Phillips said that with "the combination of the court case and our legislation, I think homeowners can sleep fairly well."

The legislation is already retroactive from the day it passed, "but this court case clarifies anything that may have happened before that date," Phillips said.

Cooper said that in the Household Realty case, the appeal court "had made a legal decision that they now realized was wrongly decided."

"That's pretty rare, to say the least," he said. "Susan deserves a great deal of credit for having the courage to decide to appeal."

The scam took place Nov. 21, 2005, two days before Lawrence made her own deal to sell the house with a long closing period.

She learned she'd been victimized two months later. "I went in to get a mortgage on a new property I was buying and the bank told me the one I had wasn't mine," Lawrence said. She had never met the fraudsters and no arrests have ever been made.

The loan officer thought it was a clerical error and not to worry. About a week later she called me and said, `Sit down,' and broke the news."

The legal battle began when Maple Trust tried to evict Lawrence and focused on whether the company had a valid mortgage.

"That's why the story became so huge," Cooper said. "How could a mortgage company evict you from your house on a mortgage you had nothing to do with and knew nothing about?"

The case went to court last June.

"The judge was sympathetic to Susan but said he was bound by the previous Court of Appeal decision and that he couldn't do anything about it," said Cooper. "We appealed and got it in front of the Court of Appeal in November."

After Lawrence's story broke, lawyers began advising clients to buy land title insurance to protect themselves.

"Before the legislative amendment, homeowners' fear of finding themselves in Susan Lawrence's position was a major impetus for title insurance being sold," said Cooper. "This has obviously been lessened because of the change in the law."

Lawrence said she still plans on buying title insurance on her property, which runs about $350 to $1,000.

"For the most part, getting it is not an urgent necessity," Cooper said. "But for a modest fee title insurance protects you if land title problems should arise."

 

[Abeja de Almirante]

Kudos to the McGuinty government in dealing with this issue.