Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso on Tuesday, Could 20, joined NYC Council Members and Brooklyn Delegation Co-Chairs Chi Ossé and Farah Louis, and NYC Council Member Sandy Nurse in rallying with advocates and householders at Metropolis Corridor, demanding important funding within the battle in opposition to deed theft as a part of the upcoming Fiscal 12 months 2026 finances.
Reynoso mentioned deed theft, the fraudulent acquisition of property with no house owner’s data or consent, has grow to be a rampant subject in Central and Jap Brooklyn, the place there’s a massive focus of older householders and householders of shade.
“Brooklyn won’t tolerate scammers coming to our borough to prey on weak Black and brown householders and steal their properties from proper beneath their noses,” he mentioned. “This funding affords the Metropolis Council a possibility to maintain our communities complete and provides Brooklynites a preventing probability to stay within the properties they’ve owned for generations.
“I am so grateful to the Brooklyn Delegation for becoming a member of us on this demand and to the householders and advocates who’re making their voices heard at the moment,” he added.
Reynoso mentioned he’s main the cost to safe a $5 million funding to fund authorized companies for deed theft victims preventing to retain their properties.
In line with the New York Authorized Help Group, deed theft is very resource-intensive to litigate, given every case’s distinctive complexities and excessive evidentiary burdens in court docket.
It’s estimated {that a} typical deed theft case could require upwards of 300 lawyer hours and 7 years to finish.
As property values rise and small householders face rising dangers of deed theft, Reynoso mentioned Brooklyn’s community of free authorized service suppliers is strained for capability, and plenty of lack grant funding to sort out deed theft head-on explicitly.
At Tuesday’s rally, Nurse introduced laws she plans to introduce with the help of Co-Prime Sponsors Reynoso and Council Member Ossé to require the Division of Shopper and Employee Safety to create an internet site that publicly lists all people who’ve been convicted of committing larceny by deed theft.
The laws is about to be launched on the upcoming Metropolis Council State Assembly on Could 28.
In line with the New York State Lawyer Basic’s workplace, practically 3,500 complaints of deed theft have been made to the New York Metropolis Sheriff’s Workplace from 2014-2023, and greater than 1,500 got here from Brooklyn –essentially the most of any borough.
Brooklyn Authorized Companies mentioned the most typical scams these householders could face are refinancing scams, fairness stripping, and foreclosures bailout loans.
Reynoso mentioned Black and brown householders are notably in danger for deed theft schemes, given hypothesis in quickly gentrifying neighborhoods, restricted entry to authorized companies, and an inclination to lack a proper will or property plan.
Deed theft is without doubt one of the most merciless crimes dedicated in our metropolis. It’s abuse, inflicted totally on the seniors who constructed our communities. Brooklyn’s progressive elected officers are proud to take the lead in combatting this scourge and are dedicated to the protection of our neighborhoods,” Ossé mentioned.
Louis, the daughter of Haitian and Bahamian immigrants, mentioned deed theft is hitting Black and brown communities in Brooklyn hardest, stripping households of the properties and generational wealth they’ve spent their lives constructing.
“This isn’t simply paperwork — it’s a predatory follow concentrating on our seniors, immigrants, and longtime householders,” mentioned the consultant for the forty fifth Council District in Brooklyn. “The town should meet this disaster with urgency.
“That’s why I’m proud to face with Borough President Antonio Reynoso and my Brooklyn delegation colleagues to name for a $5 million funding on this yr’s finances — to increase authorized companies, help neighborhood outreach, and assist Brooklyn households battle again and keep of their properties,” she added.
Nurse mentioned “the town has not achieved sufficient to cease the rise of criminals who’re preying on our older adults to steal the American dream away from Black and Brown households in New York Metropolis.
“These deed thieves are parasites, who’re destabilizing communities in Brooklyn,” she added. “We’re demanding a $5M down fee within the FY2026 finances to adequately fund the free authorized service suppliers defending our neighborhoods from these white-collar thugs.”
Shabnam Faruki, director of the Neighborhood Financial Justice Mission at Brooklyn Authorized Companies, mentioned: “Due to the a number of scheming events, perverse monetary incentives, and devious techniques concerned, unwinding deed theft is a painstaking and sophisticated course of.
“Bringing scammers to justice and getting properties returned is resource-intensive and may take over a decade,” Faruki added. “Free authorized assist is required now greater than ever to counsel weak householders, fight these scams, and restore title to victims.”
Julie Anne Howe, supervising lawyer at New York Authorized Help Group (NYLAG), mentioned, “Day by day, NYLAG sees the impression that deed theft has on our communities.
“Deed theft has spiraling impacts on people and their households, taking their house and an asset that gives stability and entry to monetary alternative throughout generations,” she mentioned. “In Brooklyn, NYLAG works with first- and second-generation householders, senior residents, and others who could wrestle to pay property taxes or water payments and search for assist to make it by a brief interval to protect their homeownership.
“Too usually, nefarious actors prey on their vulnerability and desperation to avoid wasting their house with unfair and overly burdensome circumstances that place their homeownership in danger,” she added. “We’d like extra neighborhood assets to guard homeownership and make sure that households aren’t pushed from their properties. We applaud Brooklyn Borough President Reynoso for his efforts to offer organizations wanted assets for this important work.”
Michelle de la Uz, government director of Neighbors Serving to Neighbors and Fifth Avenue Committee, mentioned deed theft is “reprehensible, and the thieves who rip-off weak and unsuspecting householders, stealing their properties and the generational wealth their households constructed, have to be delivered to justice.
“Funding for authorized companies is important to placing a cease to deed theft, guaranteeing individuals don’t lose their properties,” she mentioned. “NHN and FAC stand with BP Reynoso and our Metropolis Council Leaders to name for important authorized companies funding to guard the householders we serve.”
