Deed Theft

For many years activists in the movement for housing have seen massive construction of low income public housing as a major long-term part of the solution to the housing crisis. In the Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhood of Broolyn, however, people are now fighting not just for low income public housing but against deed theft which is contributing to a sharp and immediate worsening of the city’s housing crisis. Deed theft is a particularly pernicious and predatory housing problem. It occurs when “a thief takes the title to a home without the homeowner’s knowledge or approval.” It typically takes place in the form of forgery or fraud.