Learn How To Avoid Brooklyn Deed Scammers

Photo by Caitlin Childs

BED-STUY, BROOKLYN — A free seminar this Saturday in Bed-Stuy will offer advice on how Brooklyn residents can avoid losing their homes to deed scammers.

The “We Are Our Neighbor’s Keeper” event takes place at 10 a.m. on March 19 in the community room of the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, located at 1368 Fulton St.

Last November, the New York Times reported on the growing problem of “shell companies” using “a variety of schemes to snatch properties from their owner” in Bed-Stuy and other gentrifying neighborhoods nearby.

The article examined the case of 75-year-old Ozella Campbell, a disabled Bed-Stuy resident left homeless after being tricked into signing over the deed to her house by a company promising to help her with unpaid bills.

New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has also put together a website advising homeowners on how to avoid becoming deed victims.