Squatters took over a Phoenix home and sold it for $200K without the owners knowing: Feels so surreal
Most people worry about their bike or car being stolen — not their home.But that’s exactly what happened to D’Andrea Turner when squatters took over her Phoenix home and sold it without her knowledge.“It feels so surreal,” Turner shared in an interview with ABC 15 Arizona.“I feel like I’m in the Twilight Zone.
Really, I didn’t even think something like this could happen.”But it did.After Turner’s ex-husband, Keith — a long-haul trucker — left the house unattended for a period of time, two strangers, Aaron Polmanteer and Lledera Hollen, forced their way in.Once inside, they found personal documents belonging to the Turners, forged new ones, and assumed their identities.“Squatters stole my house,” Turner said, still in disbelief.
“They actually moved in, posed as me, and sold my house.”With fraudulent paperwork in hand, Polmanteer and Hollen successfully listed and sold the home to real estate investors for $200,000 — all without the Turners knowing.They might have gotten away with it too, but they ran into trouble when they tried to cash checks written out in the Turners’ names.Polmanteer and Hollen now await trial, and Turner’s home is back in the right hands.But the story highlights a growing trend of criminals selling property without the homeowners knowing about it.
Here’s how to guard yourself against this disturbing crime.Your keys give you physical access to your home, but your title secures your legal right to it.That right is recorded on a deed, the legal document that proves who holds ownership.In a legitimate real estate transaction, the title transfer is carefully overseen by a real estate agent, title company, and notary to ensure everything is properly documented.But fraudsters know how to manipulate the system, sometimes slipping through these safeguards undetected.Just ask Turner.
By forging documents and impersonating her and her ex-husband, Polmanteer and Hollen were able to fool a title c...