TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A woman accused of stealing several houses pleaded guilty in a case where prosecutors said she was filing fake deeds to gain control of Hillsborough County homes.
After 8 On Your Side covered the story, Bershauna Moore and her realtor reached out to the newsroom to see if something similar happened to them.
Moore showed 8 On Your Side the will signed by her aunt, Mary Ball, leaving Moore a house on Shadowlawn Street. Ball passed away in 2018 and Moore and her son moved in.
Moore said everything was fine until the house started deteriorating and she wanted to sell it. That’s when she learned of a deed from 2018 saying Ball signed the house over to a company for $10.
“That couldn’t have happened because at that time my auntie was like in the early stages of dementia,” Moore said. “She paid her mortgage off and everything herself. And it hurts that somebody can do that to somebody that worked that hard, catching buses, you know. And just come and just take somebody with (a) house, their livelihood.”
Moore feared she and her son were going to be homeless.
“I feel like with that, she could knock on my door anytime and say, ‘Hey, this is my home,’ because it was filed, you know in the court system,” Moore said.
Realtor Latosha Glover stepped in and started looking closely at the documents. She pointed out how the signatures from the will and on the deed do not match.
“They didn’t even record this instrument until almost five years later,” Glover said. “And on 10-6-22 they filed the deed to steal my client’s home. She needs help. That’s why I called you, because nobody is listening to us.”
News Channel 8 On Your Side went to the address listed for the company, but the people there said they were not the owners of the property and couldn’t tell us any more information. Glover and Moore said they wish there was a more efficient process to verify property documents.
“I feel like they don’t care,” Moore said. “You can sign it and just file it in the court system, and nobody look and say, ‘Is this right, is this business right, is this name right,’ none of that. Just put it in there. I don’t understand it. But then on my side, now I’m stuck because I can’t afford an attorney that I need to go and just ask the judge, ‘Can you please void this out because it’s fake, and I got all the paperwork right here to show you that this is fake’.”
They did file a police report. Glover went to the company to try and get them to sign over the house, but didn’t have any luck.
News Channel 8 On Your Side is looking for the truth in this case, to see if it’s another instance of fraud, or if the process has changed, anything that people should be aware of, and is reaching out to the clerk of court office for more information.
