The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-07-11
A Curious Fraud in Land Deeds.

A Curious Fraud in Land Deeds.
A MOST curious fraud has come to light in Ger
mantown in the shape of real estate forge
ries, which, for the ease with which it was
accomplished, and the evident possibility of a
similar imposition being made on almost any
of our land-Owner demands more attention
than that usually meted out to a police
report. The facts of the case are these. 1t
seems that a store and dwelling in German
town was leased some eight or nine years ago,
by Mr.. Harper to a lessee, who has continued
toregularly pay his rent until the present year.
That in the fall of 1865 the lessee, man by
the name of Johnson, visited Mr.. Richard Nor
ris, and stated that he desired to borrow
money on a mortgage on his property, for
which he could show a clear brief of title. The
sum of $4,000 was advanced to him, and he
delivered the mortgage, after satisfying the
counsel of Mr.. Norris, by presenting him with
the various deeds, that the property was actu-
ally his.
1t now appears that Mr.. Harper never sold
foot of the land to Johnson; that he was merely
the lessee; and that, in order to deceive Mr.
Norris, he forged deed of sale by Harper to
him, and actually had the deed recorded. The
result is that Mr.. Norris is cheated out of his
$4,000, unless Johnson possesses some property
of his own which can repay him. This crime,
is something new in the way of raising funds,
and is rather alarming to gentlemen holding
mortgages. 1t is a trick that can be played
upon any one. Nothing is needed but to forge
Inr "a
registered. The good title can be adopted from
the original purchaser down to the present
owner, so that it is difficult to detect the true
from the false, for all the chain may be genuine
except the last link. Nor do we see very
clearly how the danger is to be avoided. 1t is
generally safe to presume that recorded deeds
are true; and when searches show that all
the deeds are on file in the public offices, il is
likely to deceive the most wary, unless the
previous owner be personally sought and con-
sulted--a proceeding at all times disagreeable,
and frequently impossible.
A case somewhat similar in its modus ope-
randi, although not alike in some of its details,
recently occurred in New York. lady living
in Brooklyn owned certain lands near New
York, we believe at Elizabethtown, N. J. One
day a lady, purporting to be the owner and
answering to the same name, visited lawyer
in Elizabethtown, and desired him to secure a
mortgage on her property. She paid him
several visits, and as he knew the property to
really belong to lady of her name, he never
doubted the identity. The money asked for
/ was advanced ON the mortgage and nothing
more was heard of the fair visitor. Two years
afterwards the land was sold by the bona j'de
owner, and the fraud discovered. Both this
and the Germantown mode Of raising funds
are dangerously plausible and difficult of de-
lection, and 1t behooves our citizens to be ex-
tremely careful that they do not buy mort
gage from some ono who has no better right
than the mortgage himself.
THE number Of foreign residents in China and