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County pledges to improve real estate security after man tries to sell house that isn't his
WPXI ^ | February 28, 2019

Posted on 03/01/2019 5:15:16 AM PST by rightwingintelligentsia

Allegheny County officials are pledging to improve security with its real estate website after a Penn Hills family said a man sharing the same name was able to change the owner's address.

Real estate records show Sylvester Ward bought his house on Vantine Street in 2008.

Another man, also named Sylvester Ward, in North Carolina was able to change the owner's address on the property through the county's real estate office.

That change allowed the house to be listed for sale on Zillow and other real estate websites, even though the Ward family wasn't interested in selling.

"Everything you have to go through to actually buy your house, I never thought it would be that easy for someone to just change my name," the owner said.

"There's more security sometimes on your Facebook or email account. But they just send stuff in and they get it changed," added Maresa Ward, his wife.

Department of Real Estate manager Brian Brodeur confirmed changing a homeowner's address can be done through email and is only verified through a phone call and a check of the name.

“It could be changed rather quickly, probably I would say within 10 minutes,” Brodeur said. “I think it was an attempt to be as customer-friendly as we possibly could.”

Brodeur admits they never considered someone sharing the same name would try to fraudulently claim they own a house.

(Excerpt) Read more at wpxi.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: alleghenycounty; fraud; house; northcarolina; pennhills; pittsburgh; realestate; sylvesterward

1 posted on 03/01/2019 5:15:16 AM PST by rightwingintelligentsia
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To: rightwingintelligentsia

“It could be changed rather quickly, probably I would say within 10 minutes,” Brodeur said. “I think it was an attempt to be as customer-friendly as we possibly could.”

- -

Flick’s Rule 42b: Otherwise slow governments are quick to screw up.


2 posted on 03/01/2019 5:24:10 AM PST by Flick Lives
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To: Flick Lives

bttt


3 posted on 03/01/2019 5:59:14 AM PST by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
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To: rightwingintelligentsia

Things like this are nothing new. It is a common practice for outlaws in my area to lease out hunting leases they don’t own to unsuspecting hunters and fishermen. If you are an outdoorsman, beware of this! If the lessor wants cash only and there is no paper trail, beware! You might just encounter the REAL owner of the property and he will likely be armed and not very happy that you are trespassing with a gun. In Texas, this can get you in jail fast, or even dead.


4 posted on 03/01/2019 6:13:21 AM PST by eastexsteve
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To: rightwingintelligentsia

A democrat, no doubt.

The NC Sylvester Ward, that is.


5 posted on 03/01/2019 6:25:26 AM PST by moovova
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To: rightwingintelligentsia

I live in Allegheny County, and have dealt with their recorder of deeds etc for years, believe me, I am truly amazed more crap like this hasn’t happened... Information Security is a joke here.


6 posted on 03/01/2019 6:26:55 AM PST by HamiltonJay
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To: rightwingintelligentsia
I once received an official copy of my birth certificate without any verification. That was in a western state. Here in PA government is done the same way, lazy. They never suffer any consequences for being incompetent.
7 posted on 03/01/2019 6:58:17 AM PST by Varda
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To: rightwingintelligentsia

More and more laws. How about enforcing the laws already on the books. Identity theft, trespassing and unlawful entry if he went into the house and theft of property. Since it was listed online, then one would think laws against state lines comes into play making it a federal offense.


8 posted on 03/01/2019 8:06:44 AM PST by bgill (CDC site, "We don't know how people are infected with Ebola.S)
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To: rightwingintelligentsia

A county government run by a bunch of old-school union machine Democrats doesn’t understand technology?

You don’t say.


9 posted on 03/01/2019 8:15:14 AM PST by Buckeye McFrog
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To: Varda
They never suffer any consequences for being incompetent.

On the contrary, government here is virtually an employment program for the incompetent. I had a relative who ran a county department years ago. The Dem Party would come to him and say "Here's Ward Chairman Kreblowski's drunken brother-in-law. He works for you now." A friend of mine has a spouse who works for the county. A guy there who has the same job title as she does is the son of the former head of the local NAACP. He maybe shows up for work 1 day out of every 60. But they both get a monthly paycheck.

YOU try getting any actual work done with a staff like that.


10 posted on 03/01/2019 8:19:07 AM PST by Buckeye McFrog
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To: bgill
More and more laws. How about enforcing the laws already on the books. Identity theft, trespassing and unlawful entry if he went into the house and theft of property. Since it was listed online, then one would think laws against state lines comes into play making it a federal offense.

More laws are for "getting" Michael Cohen's wife, so that he'll "flip" on President Trump, so that the Uniparty can reverse the results of an election.

11 posted on 03/01/2019 8:37:36 AM PST by an amused spectator (Mitt Romney, Chuck Schumer's p*ssboy)
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