Mayor Mamdani establishes office to prevent deed theft
The office will be led by Peter White, a supervising attorney for homeowner assistance and access justice. The office will be housed within the Department of Finance.
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New York City has created its first Office of Deed Theft Prevention, a move officials say will help protect homeowners from a growing scam that has displaced families across Central Brooklyn and other neighborhoods.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the new office in Bed Stuy, calling deed theft a long‑standing crisis that has stripped residents, particularly Black and brown homeowners — of generational wealth and housing stability.
“Deed theft not only disproportionately robs Black and brown New Yorkers of their homes, it also robs them of the stability that home provides,” Mamdani said.
Deed theft occurs when scammers use falsified paperwork to take ownership of a property without the homeowner’s knowledge.
Advocates say the practice has surged in brownstone neighborhoods, where longtime residents have been targeted.
“They are not only robbing families of their homes, they are robbing taxpayers and entire communities,” said Evangeline Byers of the People’s Coalition to Stop Deed Theft.
Mamdani appointed attorney Peter White as the office’s first director. White has spent years representing homeowners facing foreclosure and fraud. He said the office will focus on identifying fraud, preventing it and helping correct cases where theft has already occurred. The office will begin with a $500,000 budget, increasing to $1 million annually.
White’s team will be responsible for flagging suspicious property filings, supporting victims, and expanding public education efforts.
More than 500 deed theft cases were reported to the state attorney general’s office in 2025, two years after the practice was criminalized.
Local leaders and housing advocates have pushed for stronger protections for years. The issue drew renewed attention this week after Councilmember Chi Ossé was arrested while attempting to stop the eviction of a Bed-Stuy grandmother.
While the case was initially believed to involve deed theft, the state attorney general later said it was a property dispute. Officials say the new office will help clarify such cases and better protect vulnerable homeowners.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said the city’s response is overdue.
Why has this taken so long to happen? Because we blamed the homeowner,” he said.
The city will also pause tax lien sales for six months to prevent families from being pushed toward foreclosure over small debts, such as unpaid water bills.
