Deed fraud in New York begins with a document on the public record. Once you see a conveyance you did not sign on ACRIS or the Nassau or Suffolk County Clerk's online system, the first three days determine whether the property can be protected while the merits are litigated. This article covers the preservation steps a title owner takes in that window.
Hour 0: Capture the Record Before It Moves
The first task is evidentiary preservation. Pull the fraudulent deed from ACRIS (for New York City properties) or the applicable county clerk's online system (for Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, and the counties outside the five boroughs). Download the document itself, the recording cover sheet, and every page the system makes available. Capture screenshots that show the full search path, including the block and lot or SBL, the recording date, the document ID, and the search timestamp.
Order certified copies from the clerk the same day. A certified copy locks the version of the record you discovered. If the fraudster re-records a corrective or substitute instrument later, the certified copy is the evidence of what was originally filed.
At the same hour, pull the full chain of title back at least to the last unquestioned owner. Deed fraud rarely sits alone on the record. The fraudulent deed is often preceded by a quitclaim from a straw grantor or followed by a downstream transfer to an LLC. Mapping the chain in the first hour frames every pleading that follows.
Hours 1 to 6: Freeze Downstream Transfer With a Lis Pendens
Fraudulent deeds exist to be flipped. Within hours of recording, title to the property can be conveyed to a second LLC, that LLC can mortgage the property to a hard-money lender, and the sale or mortgage proceeds can leave the jurisdiction. The lis pendens under CPLR § 6501 is the instrument that stops this.
A notice of pendency filed under CPLR § 6501 and § 6511 puts the world on constructive notice that title is in litigation. Any subsequent purchaser or encumbrancer takes subject to the eventual judgment. In deed-fraud cases where the real owner is still within the three-year CPLR § 6513 recordation window on the lis pendens itself, the notice is the single most protective document on the record.
The lis pendens requires that a quiet-title action under RPAPL Article 15 (or a related cause of action affecting title) be commenced. The quiet-title complaint and the lis pendens are filed together. The pleading does not need to be perfect at commencement; amended pleadings follow. The lis pendens must be anchored to a validly commenced action.
Hours 6 to 24: Preserve the Instrument and Report the Crime
A forged deed is a Penal Law § 170.10 forgery in the second degree, elevated to Penal Law § 170.15 forgery in the first degree where the instrument is one that affects a legal right in real property. Filing a police report is both the correct response and an evidentiary step: the police report, the referral to the local District Attorney's financial crimes bureau, and any resulting investigation are discoverable and useful in the civil action.
File the report with the precinct where the property sits, not where the record owner lives. For properties in the five boroughs, the NYPD's Deed Theft and Fraud Task Force coordinates with the Kings, Queens, Bronx, New York, and Richmond County District Attorneys' offices. For Nassau and Suffolk, the county District Attorney's economic crimes bureau handles the matter. Note the police report number and the detective assigned. The civil pleading will reference the report.
If the fraudulent deed purports to be acknowledged before a notary, obtain the notary's journal entry if the notary is in New York, as journal entries are required under Executive Law § 135-a. If the notary cannot produce a journal entry or the entry does not match, the civil complaint will plead the acknowledgment defect in addition to the forgery.
Hours 24 to 72: Draft the Quiet Title Complaint and Related Relief
The civil cause of action to invalidate a fraudulent deed in New York is a quiet-title action under Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law (RPAPL) Article 15. RPAPL § 1515 sets the complaint requirements: a description of the property, the nature of the plaintiff's estate or interest, the nature of the defendant's claim or interest, and a demand for a judgment declaring the plaintiff's interest free from the defendant's claim.
In a deed-fraud matter, the complaint typically pleads two overlapping theories. First, the deed is void ab initio because the purported grantor did not sign it. A forged deed conveys nothing, regardless of what any downstream grantee did or did not know. Second, the deed is void for a defect in acknowledgment or delivery, or the signature was obtained by material fraud in the factum. The two theories lead to different remedies against downstream grantees and should both be pleaded.
The complaint should also plead ancillary relief: cancellation and discharge of the fraudulent deed under RPAPL § 329, injunctive relief under CPLR Article 65 to prevent further conveyance, and damages against the fraudster and any complicit parties. In the same filing, submit the lis pendens for recording and request immediate assignment to a specific judge where the county's rules allow.
Void vs. Voidable: Why the Distinction Governs Everything
The remedy against downstream purchasers turns on whether the fraudulent deed is void or voidable. A void deed conveys no title. A voidable deed conveys title that can be reclaimed by the defrauded party, but is cut off by a subsequent bona fide purchaser for value. The categorization decides whether the real owner recovers the property or is left with a money judgment against the fraudster.
The New York Court of Appeals addressed the distinction in Faison v. Lewis, 25 N.Y.3d 220 (2015), holding that a forged deed is void ab initio and does not become enforceable against a subsequent bona fide purchaser merely because time has passed. A deed from a deceased grantor is likewise void; the grantor had no capacity to convey. A deed obtained by material fraud in the factum (the signer was tricked about what they were signing) is typically void; a deed obtained by fraud in the inducement (the signer knew what they were signing but was deceived about the terms) is voidable.
In deed-fraud litigation, the plaintiff pleads void to recover the property and pleads voidable in the alternative to preserve a damages theory against innocent purchasers. The downstream LLC's "bona fide purchaser" defense is defeated at the pleading stage where the deed is void.
A Recent Bronx Deed Fraud Matter
In a recent Bronx deed-fraud matter I handled, the estate of a decedent discovered that a Bronx multi-family property had been conveyed by a purported deed recorded months after the decedent's death. The grantee was an LLC with no connection to the family. We filed a quiet-title action under RPAPL Article 15 in Bronx Supreme Court and recorded a lis pendens under CPLR § 6501 the same day. A parallel Surrogate's Court proceeding established the estate's interest for purposes of standing and probate jurisdiction. Because a deed from a deceased grantor is void ab initio, the LLC's later-anticipated bona fide purchaser defense was framed around the void-ab-initio theory from the opening pleading forward.
Three Mistakes to Avoid in the First 72 Hours
First, do not call the fraudulent grantee before counsel is retained. A phone call to the LLC listed on the fraudulent deed tips the fraudster to the discovery and gives them time to transfer or encumber the property before a lis pendens issues. Give no notice to the opposing party until the lis pendens is recorded.
Second, do not record a corrective deed or an affidavit on your own behalf hoping to override the fraudulent instrument. Self-help recordings create their own chain-of-title problem and can be used against the record owner in later litigation. The remedy is a court order of cancellation under RPAPL § 329, not a counter-recording.
Third, do not wait for the criminal investigation to run its course before filing the civil action. The criminal matter and the civil quiet-title action proceed on different clocks. The property can be transferred and encumbered in the months between a police report and a criminal indictment. The civil case is the one that stops the transfer.
FAQ
What is ACRIS and how does it relate to deed fraud?
ACRIS is the New York City Department of Finance's Automated City Register Information System. It is the public-facing record of real property instruments filed in the five boroughs. Deed fraud affecting a New York City property is almost always visible on ACRIS first. For Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, and other counties, the equivalent systems are maintained by the respective county clerks.
How long do I have to bring a quiet-title action for deed fraud?
A quiet-title action to invalidate a void deed is not time-barred under New York's statute of limitations for fraud. The distinction between void and voidable deeds controls here as well. A voidable deed is subject to the CPLR § 213(8) six-year fraud statute of limitations, which can be measured from discovery under the two-year discovery rule. A void deed is not subject to that limitation; the real owner's claim runs with the title.
Can the New York Attorney General or local DA help with a deed fraud case?
The Attorney General and the local District Attorney prosecute the criminal side of deed fraud, which carries felony penalties under Penal Law § 170.15. Criminal prosecution does not return title. The civil quiet-title action is the proceeding that cancels the fraudulent deed and clears the record.
What if the fraudulent deed has already been conveyed to a third party?
Downstream transfer is common and does not defeat recovery where the original deed is void. Each transfer in the chain is pleaded, each grantee is named as a defendant, and the void-ab-initio theory flows through the chain. A lis pendens filed before further transfer is critical; absent one, additional downstream grantees may plead a bona-fide-purchaser defense that complicates the case substantially.
Act in the First 72 Hours
Deed fraud is a solvable problem when the right steps happen in the first three days of discovery. If you have discovered a fraudulent deed on ACRIS or in a county clerk's record for a property you own, contact Michel Law for a real property litigation consultation at (516) 440-3440 or schedule online. We represent property owners in deed-fraud matters in Nassau, Suffolk, Queens, Kings, Bronx, and Westchester.