ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - Although he’s retired, Robert Elder feels like he’s taken on a new job: fighting for his home in which he’s invested more than 50 years of equity.
In a lawsuit, Elder, 85, claims his southwest Atlanta home has been stolen from him by a stepson from his first marriage, Torrey Elder.
Last year a new deed was filed on Robert Elder’s house; not once but, according to records, three times. The first was filed in July; the second, in August and labelled “corrective deed;” and a third in September.
A series of Atlanta News First investigations have shown that under current Georgia law, no identification is required to file property paperwork in the clerk’s office. No one has to prove they own the property.
All the deeds transferred Robert Elder’s home from his ownership to former stepson Torrey. However, none of the signatures match the way Robert signs his name, according to other official documents. Torrey claims his dad did transfer the home over to him. Adding, the 85-year-old is “lying.”
A series of Atlanta News First investigations have shown that under current Georgia law, no identification is required to file property paperwork in the clerk’s office. No one has to prove they own the property.
“Mr. Elder did not sign these documents, absolutely not,” said real estate fraud attorney Rick Alembik, who has taken on the civil case. “This is stealing. This is theft. Just because a gun wasn’t used, just because nobody broke into somebody’s house, doesn’t mean it’s not a crime that shouldn’t be prosecuted.”
When a deed is filled out and notarized, the clerks must accept it. However, state law says notaries should stamp documents only when they witness and confirm the identity of the signer.
While the lawsuit doesn’t list the notaries as defendants, it does cite their notarization as part of the alleged fake deed filings.
If Robert Elder never signed the deeds and never met the notaries who stamped them? Why were the deeds notarized in the first place? Atlanta News First Investigates attempted to contact Jamilah Garth and Christine Smith, the notaries who signed the deeds.
Smith was eventually reached by phone, but she refused to explain the incident.
“There’s no question somebody notarized a document that was signed by someone who was not Mr. Elder,” Alembik said.
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