***Now that my mother has moved and is safe, I can now share what we’ve been dealing with since May 5th.***
My sister and I have been wanting Mom to downsize for a couple years now. I stopped talking about it after she told me, in so many words, my plan was not feasible for her and she could handle it. IOW… “stay in a child’s place.” 💁🏾 Since it didn’t seem like she was going to move, we decided to buy her a dryer as an early Mother’s Day gift. I was going to surprise her with the delivery, then I thought she may feel a way about two strange white men coming to knock on her door, so I decided to tell her so she could prepare. 😬
Her response was an appreciative one, and I also sensed some hesitation. I didn’t know what it meant and I wasn’t asking. She later called my sister and me to say she had a surprise for US that she was waiting to disclose AFTER the plans had been finalized.
***Backstory*** My Mother’s property is near Wake Forest University and she had been approached by investors a few times. She thought about it with a little more intent after her upstairs neighbor/friend experienced success with selling her property.
A realtor knocked on her door on April 24th wanting to purchase her condo. Mom said, “She was the answer to my prayer.” The realtor was taking her out the next day (May 6th) to look for apartments and said she was going to pay for her moving expenses. That is when I started questioning. Mom hadn’t paid rent since the 90s and I was on a real estate hunt because of how much MY rent had increased, so I didn’t think she was prepared for what she was about to encounter. Mom said the girl (aka heffa) said they were going to look and she’d help her through the process. I said, “Okay,” my sister had other questions, however, I was focused on getting to the Jill Scott concert. My sister called with concern after we disconnected from Mom and I was like, “Aye, investigate if you want to. Momma basically told me to mind my business.”
Saturday came and that’s when we also heard the dreadful words from Mom, “I think I’ve been scammed.” We immediately asked for paperwork and that’s when Mom began to disclose why she felt she had been scammed. The heffa wouldn’t give her any paperwork; she only sent her pictures of documents. There was supposed to be a notary present for the signing of a document and Mom said the notary was in Charlotte and, while on speakerphone, she told the heffa, “It’s raining and I’m not going to make it. I trust you, though.”
Me: She said WHAT?!?
I started asking more detailed questions and for her to call the heffa for answers because after learning (what I already knew and felt the heffa should have known) my Mom couldn’t afford the rent of places she’d like to stay, Mom said the heffa’s attitude shifted.
We received the pics of the documents, and that’s when our world shifted!!!
I immediately shared the pics with my realtor, Allonda Hawkins. Allonda doesn’t get jolted by much and she typically finds a way to figure the toughest things out, so when she began discussing what she was seeing in a shocked voice, I knew it was a shitty situation. I was hoping it was because I may have caught her at a time when she was dealing with something else, however, she blocked that out and said in a distraught tone, “Micha, your Mom sold her house for $1!!!”
Allonda got moving and reached out to an attorney who, was so pissed about the situation, spent his weekend researching. She called me on Sunday and said, “As long as there is not deed on file, we’re gonna help y’all fight this!” She called back around 450p on Monday to say the attorney did find a signed deed and there wasn’t much they could do. The girl rang Mom’s doorbell on April 24th, and the deed was downtown on April 26th. If that ain’t some shady shit…
I got Mom and my sister on the line and was super emotional because:
1. It was 5p so I couldn’t call for any help.
2. I was frustrated that this happened without my sister and me being involved.
3. Even though it had only occurred two weeks prior, I felt so helpless and rushed, and from what I hear, I don’t move fast 🤷🏾.
I wiped the tears parked in Benton Convention Center deck and walked in to listen to Heather McGhee.
Allonda had a client who was able to get me in contact with Dan, from Housing Justice Now, and that’s when we got to work.
He had me reach out to a Legal Aid attorney who was in Greensboro who got me in contact with Legal Aid in Winston (his attitude and tone wasn’t the best anyway)! While I waited on a return call, I called a whole lot of attorneys in Winston. Most couldn’t help or didn’t return my call, while the others’ fees were so high, it wasn’t really worth the fight.
I received a call from Legal Aid and they were very helpful with informing us of the process and buying time for us to help my mother get her affairs in order. I also began the reporting process through a national agency who helped me know who to contact in NC and Winston.
***More Backstory*** The heffa found Mom’s info because she was going through the foreclosure process. She lost her job during Covid (her role was eliminated and they weren’t quick to find her another one because of her age), which caused her to get behind on mortgage. She also lost her car and I believe all of that helped her physical health decline. She received financial assistance from Financial Pathways, however, Truist wouldn’t accept funding from third parties, so into foreclosure she went. My sister and I only had a high level understanding of what was happening until after the heffa got involved.
I reported the situation to the Attorney General Josh Stein’s office who said I needed to file a report with the Real Estate Commission. They couldn’t provide a timeline of their findings (I still haven’t received the final report), so I began working with local agencies. The Department of Social Services Elder Abuse division was more interested in the story (because the representative hadn’t ever heard anything like it) than actually what we were dealing with. She stated there wasn’t anything they could do because my sister and I were involved so Mom was considered “safe” from abuse.
I had to file a police report for Truist’s fraud department and while I want to shout out Chief Penn, the specific officer who took our report was shitty. She seemed like we were bothering her, she acted like she didn’t believe me so she asked to speak to Mom, and ultimately asked to speak back to me because I was the one who was providing the info relevant for the report. Shout out to the officer in the reporting area because he was patient and pushed for the officer to correct the report before sending it to me!
Speaking of Truist, though…shout out to the young lady who was so pissed about the situation that she allowed me to act as my mother, when I talked to the national office, so we could get things moving quickly. Shout out to their fraud department. The representative I dealt with was very familiar with these situations and was quick on his feet. He also did some “off the record” digging to let us know what/who we were dealing with.
After weeks of communicating with Legal Aid, they concluded they weren’t going to be able to help us because their resources were limited to keeping people housed and Mom wanted to sell. They WERE willing to talk to the heffa to get the deed back. She called Mom (from a different number 🙄) the same day so the attorney suggested we try first.
***We couldn’t go public sooner (I wanted to go to the news) because Legal Aid advised that the transferring of a deed without the lender’s knowledge is automatic grounds for foreclosure. Truist’s fraud department knew that and worked to take Mom from foreclosure to loss mitigation hoping we would be able to get the deed back.***
I’ll save y’all from all that was said via text and the voice recordings. She’s from up north and thought she was slick until she got on the phone with Michael James’ ‘dawtah’. We couldn’t and wouldn’t agree to her negotiations and she wouldn’t agree to sign the deed back over, so I cut all communication with her.
What Mom signed was a Subject 2 Wholesale which benefits the ‘buyer’ (even though she didn’t BUY a damn thing) because they don’t come out of pocket with anything. Well, she is now. We left the property ‘As-Is’ and it needs some repairs. Heffa thought she’d be able to sell it quickly, however, Truist made it KNOWN they would NOT easily release the title. Truist was so apologetic because they didn’t want to lose Mom or have her lose her property. They offered a lot of financial assistance, it just wasn’t going to help because the heffa had the deed and the assistance was only going to bring Mom current on the mortgage; it wasn’t going to help with the repairs.
Dan, with Housing Justice Now, only stopped trying to find ways to help because I told him to use the resources on someone who will be homeless without his help. Like, he was willing to raise funds for attorney fees 🫢🙌🏾.
The heffa threatened to sue Allonda after Allonda sent her a letter calling her out. Allonda stood on her actions and was willing to pay a lawyer if she had to. 👊🏾✊🏾
Thank you to ALL the people, friends and strangers, who told me their stories of their parents being scammed, offered assistance in ANY capacity, referred me to a resource, and cussed right along with me.
I’m sad we are living the, “It be your own people,”life. The heffa is Black and a Carver High School Alum (at least that’s what it says on her Facebook page 🤷🏾).
Check on your parents. Be okay with them not fooling with you because you take over every now and then. Get those POAs signed. Learn about the aging process. Mainly…TREAT PEOPLE RIGHT because Karma still ain’t forgetting addresses, because she made sure the heffa’s real estate license got SUSPENDED🤭, the notary and the attorney listed on the deed have also been investigated 💁🏾!!!
🎵“🎤Try Jesus, Not Me…Because I fight”🎵
CHECKMATE aka FAFO 👊🏾
Part 3…Coming Soon😉