, 1874-08-23
FALSE LAND-CONVEYENCES.

[Signel) THEODORE TnToS.
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FALSE ELAND-CONVEYENCEs
TIE disclosures of the last few weeks show
the facility with which forged conveyances Of
land may be executed in this city, and the sue
cess which may attend the commission Of such
crimes. Our system Of conreyances aud OF ro-
cording the same, and our system OF buying aud
selling land by abstracts Of recorded title, fur
nish an almost unlimited means Of perpetrating
frauds. Thus, where A is the owner Of block
of ground, and 3 places on file in the
record Office conveyance thereof to
B, the record title, upon which property alone
is sold in this city, passes to 3, and. in tie case
of the death Of before tho fraud is discov-
cred, B or his assignecs would have titular
claim upon the property which it would bo ditti-
cult to dlslodge. Persons holding property
rarely. il ever. have their abstracts of title
brought down, except in case of sale, and Il
fraudulent conveyance Of the property might be
on record for ten years or more and the real
owner would not DO aware Of the fact. II
this kind Of conveyance can be e1-
ecuted in cases where the owner resides
in this city, and the fraud successfully escape
detection for years, now much more readily can
the fraud be practiced in casee where the owner
is nonresident? Property thus fraudulently
conveyed may upon record pass through doz-
en- fictitious names, or even through the hands
cf cavavu1 hmm rrrrhnaara xnthnyt t1inco,-
ory. In case the owner, whether nonresident or
otherwise die, the record exhibits at least p,i-
ma facie title against the estate, and it may be
extremely difficult for the hoirs to es-
tablish their title, or to disprove the fraud
u1ent one. In the particular case now brought
to light, the fraud was detected in the lifetime
Of the real owner; yet on the abstract OF the
record tho fraudulent conveyapcea appear, to all
intents and purposes as valid as if there wero no
question Of their genuineness. When the matter
is looked at calmly and considerably the wonder
is, perhaps not TINT such frauds hayo been per
petrated or attempted, but that they hayo not
been more commonly practiced. As the great
majority Of the land sales are made through
professional agents, and without any personal
intercourse between purchaser aud seller. the
opportunities for making the sale upon mere
exhibit Of the abstract are ample.
To the success Of such Echeme it IL hardly
necessary that there should bo even an accessory
Eaye those requisite to personate tho grantors in
the conveyance. These can possibly be hired for
q comparatively small sum, and mag 20 through
their part Of the performance without any par
The Notary Public, such is the universal loose
uess Of the practice in taking acknowledge
ments, may certify to the execution Of the
deed without the slightest suspicion of fraud, or
intention to share therein. The rest of the
business is smooth sailing. The original Of the
forged paper once On record is DESTROYED, aud
the false title is supported by tho record.
Thenceforth, on the chain OF title stands the
paper. to be claimed as conclusive proof of ab-
solute title, or as cloud upon that title, to bo
removed only by purchase. While it stands,
there can be no eale Of the premises. It acts
Ike q prohibition, enabling tho holder Of the
claim uuder the forged paper to dictate his own
terms.
The law-and ne believe the only law p1orid-
ing penalties for an of{ense Of this kinds
found in Sec. 122 Of the Criminal Code Of this
State, which rcads:
Every person who shall be party to any fraudulent
converancc Of lands, tenenents, Acredita1nents,
goods, chattcs, any right interest issuing out
Of the same. or to any bond, suit Judgment
ton, contract, conveyance had, 1nede contryed
with intent to deceive and dcfrsud others, to de-
feat hinder delay creditors others Of their just
debts. damages, or demands; or who, being party
Aforesaid. 1T any time shall Willingly and willingly
put IN, use, avow, maintain, justify, defend tho
eame, any Of theno true, and done had, q made
in good faith, upon good consideration, OF shall
SELL alien assign any Of the lau1s. etc to him cou-
reyed aforesaid, any part thereof shall b. fined
not exceeding 81 900.
The next section provides for the imprisonment
in tho Penitentiary. from one to Ave years, Of
any ol1cer who shall falsely certify to an &c
acknowledgement Of deed "uith intent to injute
OF defraud,"
We suppose the placing on record Of deed Of
conveyance Of real estate, the same falsely pur-
porting to have been executed by the persons
whote nanes are forged thereto, would tall un-
dor the definition Of attering and publishing
fAl=s tad forged instzument, and hancs be