Donovan McCarty, Michigan State University

Buying her first home on Detroit’s far east side in 2021 was the moment when a lifelong dream finally came within reach for Kim Page.

“I accomplished something that I always wanted to do,” said Page, who grew up in the city. “I always wanted to buy my own home since I was like 18. I never wanted to rent from anyone.”

Page said she had saved US$15,000 and used $3,800 in cash to buy the single-family brick house on Britain Street. The house, owned by a friend planning to move out of Detroit, was “damaged pretty bad,” Page recalls. But the house was hers to care for, and she was determined to fix what was broken.

For the next several years, Page poured her sweat and paychecks into the property. Working first as a welder at automotive supplier Fisher Dynamics, and later as a phlebotomist, she paid for a dumpster, windows, a door, ceiling repair and an awning above her front porch. Page invested $27,000 in needed repairs and, in 2022, happily moved in.

But in August 2023, a storm damaged her roof. By March 2024, mold had grown inside the property, which made Page struggle to breathe; she moved in with family. She returned to the home in April 2024 for an appointment with a representative from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. That’s when Page noticed the locks had been changed. Perplexed but undeterred, she broke down the back door to get inside and purchased new locks, which she installed.

Then on a hot, summer day in July 2024, Page came home to discover all her locks had been changed again.

Searching for answers, Page called the Wayne County Register of Deeds’ Mortgage and Deed Fraud Unit. The staff confirmed she was a victim of deed fraud – a crime where scammers forge signatures to record a phony transfer of property ownership. Once criminals hijack the title, they can sell the property, rent it out or drain its equity with mortgages, potentially leaving the rightful owner to face the legal and financial fallout.

“I just was in shock,” Page said. “I can’t believe somebody really did this to me.”

A nationwide problem that’s hard to nail down

Page reached out to me for help in March 2025. I’m a housing attorney, assistant professor at Michigan State University College of Law and director of the Housing Justice Clinic. I have represented dozens of victims of deed fraud.

I have also studied how property recording systems respond – or, more accurately, fail to respond – to fraud. My work examines how procedural gaps in title systems disproportionately harm elderly, low-income and minority homeowners.

Nationwide, deed fraud – also called quit claim deed fraud or home title theft – is a growing problem, including in New York, Boston, Miami and Philadelphia.

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Exactly how big a problem it is, is hard to know. The FBI does not track deed fraud specifically, instead grouping it into a larger category of real estate crimes.

From 2019 through 2023, 58,141 victims in the U.S. reported $1.3 billion in losses relating to real estate crime, the FBI says. However, that number is likely undercounted because many people don’t know where to report it, are embarrassed they were victims or don’t know yet they have been targeted.

In Detroit, deed fraud may be particularly prevalent because so many housing deals are made in cash and many properties owe back taxes. The Wayne County Mortgage and Deed Fraud Unit has tracked more than 13,000 inquiries regarding deed fraud and has opened over 2,300 cases throughout Wayne County since 2005.

Without oversight, the crime often goes undetected

Committing deed fraud is remarkably simple.

A deed is the legal document that transfers ownership of a home or other real property from one person to another. When a home is bought or sold, a deed is legally drawn up to reflect the transfer of ownership. That deed is then recorded with a county register of deeds, providing public notice of who legally owns the property.

A fraudster can forge the signature of the real owner – sometimes someone who is deceased. They can file a deed that appears valid on its face but isn’t.

They then record that false deed with a county register of deeds, the local government office that keeps public land records and other documents showing ownership, claiming title to property they do not actually own.

Fraudsters often target vulnerable people and properties, including elderly owners, families dealing with inherited homes, and houses that appear vacant or neglected, such as those behind on property taxes.

The incentive is clear: Once a fraudster appears to hold title, they can try to sell the property to an investor or an unsuspecting buyer looking for stable housing. I have seen fraudsters secure as much as $50,000 from one deal when they obtained a mortgage based on a fraudulent deed. One notable case of fraud targeted Elvis Presley’s former estate, Graceland.

In Michigan and most other states, recording offices do not have authority to substantively review a deed to determine whether it is fraudulent. If the document complies with technical formatting requirements, such as margin and font size, it must be recorded. Once stamped and indexed, the deed appears legitimate and can easily trick desperate buyers, investors, financial institutions and even police officers, lawyers and judges.

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In other words, the recording process is largely administrative, not investigative. The government office accepts and files the document without first verifying that the person signing it actually had the legal right to transfer the property.

That means a fraudulent deed can enter the public record, look valid to the outside world and remain undiscovered for months or even years.

Detroit is vulnerable

The housing market helps explain why Detroiters are more vulnerable to deed fraud.

Homes in Black neighborhoods nationwide are systematically undervalued compared with similar homes in white neighborhoods. Black borrowers are also more likely to be denied conventional mortgage loans. Detroit is about 73% Black, with a median household income of roughly $39,000 and a poverty rate exceeding 30%.

In a market where access to traditional financing is uneven and home prices are relatively low, cash sales accounted for 4 in 10 sales in February 2024.

Lenders, brokers and title companies act as informal gatekeepers when people purchase a home using a mortgage. In cash sales, those actors are absent, and there are fewer opportunities to detect irregularities in the documented history showing how title passed from one owner to the next over time.

Illegal tax practices led to thousands of foreclosed homes

Property tax distress attracts fraudsters. Fraudsters seem to rely on publicly available tax foreclosure lists to identify properties that appear abandoned. They then pay the past-due taxes to remove the property from foreclosure and attempt to sell or mortgage the property using their fraudulent deed.

The fraudsters may also assume that the owner lacks the resources to wage a prolonged legal fight to recover title if they do uncover their scheme. In many cases, that assumption proves correct.

Michigan’s Constitution caps assessments at 50% of market value, but researchers have found that from 2009 to 2015, a majority of Detroit homes were assessed above that limit. Once those inflated bills went unpaid, interest, penalties and fees accumulated, often ending in tax foreclosure.

More than 100,000 Detroit residents lost homes in that crisis, and homeowners were overtaxed by at least $600 million between 2010 and 2016.

In a city already destabilized by unlawful tax foreclosure, fraudsters found opportunity in homes burdened by vacancy and broken chains of ownership.

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The burdens that deed fraud victims face

My first encounter with deed fraud came in July 2023. I received a request for legal assistance from a man who said he had been evicted from a home he claimed to own. Honestly, I didn’t believe him.

But when I pulled the court records and deeds, I learned he was right.

A fraudulent deed had been filed on his property, stripping him of title. The fraudsters then filed an eviction case against him.

The owner had no phone and no internet access to attend the virtual hearings. The court entered a judgment to evict him. A bailiff came, broke down his door and threw his belongings into a dumpster.

It took six months and two separate court cases before he was finally able to return to his home. He never recovered his belongings – and we never found the fraudster.

There are many other hardships for a legitimate owner. A fraudulent deed can prevent homeowners from selling their property, refinancing or accessing financial assistance programs.

To clear title, owners must file a quiet title lawsuit – a court action used to resolve disputes over who legally owns a property.

But quiet title cases are complex legal proceedings.

They require multiple filings, hearings and strict compliance with procedural rules. Even when fraud is obvious – for example, when a deed was signed by someone who was already deceased – courts generally require formal litigation to remove the cloud from the title.

Likewise, the legal process of notifying the defendant can be especially burdensome. Fraudsters often use fictitious names and addresses, making them difficult or impossible to locate. Even uncontested cases typically take months. If a defendant appears and disputes ownership, litigation can stretch for years.

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Filing fees, service costs and other litigation expenses accumulate quickly. Hiring an attorney can cost several thousand dollars, and some victims have reported spending tens of thousands clearing title to their homes.

As for Kim Page, her case is still ongoing. After being locked out of her home, she had to move in with relatives for over a year, putting a strain on their relationship. She was eventually able to return to her home, but the legal dispute over ownership has not been resolved.

On top of that, she is facing a counter-lawsuit from the company that filed the fraudulent deed, requesting $50,000 for repairs the company made to the home while Page was locked out, along with property taxes and utility bills that the company says it paid to the county and utility companies on her behalf. The county opened an investigation, but it remains unresolved. As a result, she still has no idea who orchestrated the scheme.

While there are free legal services organizations to help, they have limited capacity, and income thresholds exclude some homeowners who still cannot afford private counsel.

Legal reforms likely won’t resolve systemic issues

Across the country, state legislatures have begun responding. Twenty-one have enacted deed fraud legislation, and 15 more have proposed it.

Another common intervention is fraud alert systems, which notify owners when any documents that impact the title of their property are recorded.

Other reforms increase notarial requirements or enhance criminal penalties.

These measures may deter some misconduct, but they do little to reduce the burden on victims once a fraudulent deed has been recorded.

In my assessment, meaningful reforms focus on empowering registers of deeds to substantively review suspicious documents before recording them; simplifying and expediting quiet title proceedings; and expanding civil remedies so victims can recover the costs associated with clearing their title.

Some jurisdictions like Texas and Florida have adopted streamlined procedures that allow victims to initiate quiet title actions using standardized forms with reduced fees. Others permit recorders, prosecutors or judges to act when fraud has already been established.

In Michigan, I am working with lawmakers and stakeholders to develop comprehensive legislation addressing these issues. Bills are expected to be introduced later this year.

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At the same time, my clinic has begun exploring how technology can help identify fraudulent deeds already in the record. We are working with computer scientists to evaluate whether artificial intelligence tools could flag suspicious filings and potentially prevent fraudulent documents from being accepted in the future.

No property system can eliminate fraud entirely. Preventive and punitive measures may limit fraud, but they cannot eliminate the incentive to commit it. For fraudsters, the payoff can be substantial.

Conversations about the issue often begin and end with the mechanics of the crime or the procedural burdens victims face afterward. Far less attention is paid to the housing market conditions that make some communities especially vulnerable in the first place.

Page, now 42 and working as a transporter for Sinai-Grace Hospital, has been coping with the stress of legal proceedings for the past two years and living with a heart condition so serious that she got a defibrillator.

The longtime Detroiter is fed up – with the lack of police help to find the fraudster, as well as the court system. All she wants is to be the rightful owner of the home.

“Give me my house back,” Page said.

Detroit editor Eleanore Catolico contributed reporting.

Donovan McCarty, Director, Housing Justice Clinic at Michigan State University College of Law, Michigan State University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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(Feature Impact) Weekend getaways and cross-country trips are supposed to offer a break from daily routines and financial stress. Yet for many travelers, the return home comes with an uncomfortable reality: the trip cost far more than expected. From luxurious dinners and spontaneous excursions to airport snacks and daily coffees, vacation spending is becoming increasingly difficult to control in an era of rising prices and experience-driven travel.

According to a survey conducted by TopCashback, a cash back site serving more than 20 million members worldwide to help people save as much money as possible on everyday spending, overspending while traveling is now the norm rather than the exception. Nearly 94% of respondents said they have spent more on vacation than originally planned, with more than 65% reporting they typically overspend by at least $250.

“Vacations should create memories, not money stress,” said Elisabella Ricca, personal finance and consumer analyst at TopCashback. “Giving yourself a spending plan before you travel can make it easier to enjoy the experience in the moment and avoid feeling guilty about the cost afterward.”

These findings reflect a growing disconnect between travel budgets and actual spending as vacationers navigate higher costs and pressure to make their trips feel worthwhile.

Inflation’s Impact On Travel Behaviors

Airfare, hotel rates, dining and entertainment costs are all climbing, forcing many households to rethink how often they take trips and what those trips look like. In fact, nearly 78% of respondents said rising travel costs have changed the way they vacation. Meanwhile, nearly 83% said they’re traveling less often altogether due to rising costs.

Travelers are Turning to Financing

These changing behaviors may also explain why financing vacations is becoming more common. The survey found 67% of respondents have used credit cards, financing plans or “buy now, pay later” services to pay for a vacation. While these tools can help make trips more accessible in the short term, they may also extend the financial impact of a vacation long after travelers return home.

Financial Stress After the Fun

For some travelers, that long-term effect is already being felt. More than 58% of survey respondents said they feel guilty at least sometimes about how much they spend on vacation, a feeling that often emerges after returning home and assessing purchases that seemed easier to justify while away from normal routines.

Small Purchases are Adding Up to Big Overspending

Vacation overspending rarely happens through one large purchase alone. Instead, smaller expenses accumulate steadily throughout the trip. For example, 53% of respondents said they’re most likely to spend more on coffee or drinks while traveling than they would at home, and another 53% said snacks are the common overspending culprit. These purchases may seem insignificant individually, but multiple small transactions each day can quickly add up.

Experiences Outweigh Luxury When Justifying Expenses

Even as travelers look for ways to cut costs, most remain willing to spend on experiences they view as meaningful. The survey found the top vacation splurges respondents are most likely to justify are fancy dinners (56%) and excursions or tours (48%). This suggests travelers are placing greater value on memorable moments rather than luxury, such as high-end accommodations.

Careful planning isn’t enough for most travelers to stay within a budget, as 59% of respondents said they set a vacation budget beforehand, signaling that overspending is often less about a lack of preparation and more about the realities of modern travel costs.

Nearly 90% of survey respondents said earning cash back or rewards on travel purchases would influence their spending decisions at least slightly. As people look for a better way to manage expenses and offset costs, many are turning to programs such as TopCashback, which offers travel-related cash back on airfare and last-minute flights, vacation packages, hotels and lodging, transportation and parking, car rentals, travel insurance, cruises, resorts and more.

To learn how cash back programs could help you stay within your next vacation budget, visit topcashback.com.

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SOURCE:
TopCashback

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Eric Palkovacs, University of California, Santa Cruz

When the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool turned green with algae just days after a US$15 million renovation, the U.S. government scrambled for chemicals and expensive technical solutions to fix the iconic landmark.

Trying to kill algae with chemicals is a common response when community ponds or other water features go green. But as a scientist who studies freshwater ecology, I can tell you there are better solutions that cost far less, last longer and carry less risk of harm to pets and wildlife.

Rather than battling against nature, these alternatives work with nature for long-term solutions. https://www.youtube.com/embed/nkqBQ1r0Kto?wmode=transparent&start=0 If you need to treat a slimy, green, algae-filled body of water, you shouldn’t drain and refill the water, which resets the entire ecosystem. Instead, one solution is quite simple and relies on nature, not chemicals.

What went wrong on the National Mall

The algal bloom that turned the Reflecting Pool a vibrant green shouldn’t have been a surprise.

The pool is big, more than a third of a mile long and around 165 feet wide. But it’s shallow, meaning it warms up quickly in the sun. When it was repainted “American flag blue” during the renovations in spring 2026, the new color darkened the pool, and darker colors absorb more heat.

On top of those conditions, the pool was refilled with water from the nutrient-rich tidal basin of the Potomac River. The combination of warm water and nutrients created prime conditions for algae to bloom, turning the water pea soup green.

As the national conversation over the Reflecting Pool shifts to political finger-pointing, an important environmental question deserves careful scrutiny: What is the best approach to maintain water quality in a case like this, whether for a national monument or a community water feature or pond?

Trying to chemically or mechanically remove algae can damage the structure of a water feature and may harm species in the water that could actually help solve the problem.

Importantly, chemical and mechanical solutions are only temporary fixes. When the Reflecting Pool is drained and filled again, there’s a good chance that algae will bloom again.

Natural algae control

Limnologists – scientists like me who study inland water bodies – have spent many decades learning why lakes and ponds turn green and how to clear them up.

Often, nutrient-rich waters fueled by fertilizer runoff from farm fields or sewage from cities are the sources that stimulate algal growth.

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However, natural ponds also host grazing zooplankton, which eat algae. For example, a type of zooplankton called Daphnia, known as water fleas because of the way these tiny crustaceans swim, can control algae by consuming it before it becomes a pea soup nuisance. Thus, a thriving Daphnia population can help maintain good water quality in a lake, pond or community water feature, even when nutrient levels spike.

In addition to being highly effective grazers, Daphnia have another superpower – they can evolve rapidly. Urban waterbodies are often harsh environments with a variety of challenges, including high temperatures, low levels of dissolved oxygen, and pollutants. Daphnia can adapt to tough conditions, making these creatures an ideal source of algae control in many urban ponds.

Rooted aquatic plants are also useful for algae control in ponds because they absorb nutrients. Thus, shallow ponds with thick beds of aquatic plants can often resist algal blooms when nutrient levels rise.

Why draining might not be the best solution

One downside to draining and refilling a pond or urban water feature to try to clean it is that doing so resets the aquatic ecosystem, erasing the signature of any past evolution that has taken place.

Imagine Daphnia in a shallow pond that experiences periodic heat waves throughout the summer. Through repeated exposure to high temperatures, natural selection favors heat-resistant genotypes that can thrive in an urban pond.

Daphnia and other grazing zooplankton can also evolve resistance to some types of cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, which produce compounds that are toxic to people and pets. Daphnia that evolve resistance to those toxins can help control harmful cyanobacterial blooms.

If a Daphnia population that evolved to tolerate warm temperatures, low oxygen levels or cyanotoxins is removed, the new population likely won’t be ready to handle those local challenges. This evolutionarily naive population will perform poorly in its new environment, reducing its effectiveness at controlling algal blooms.

As a result, traditional mechanical and chemical approaches may actually work against the goal of minimizing algae in ponds and other water features.

Nature-based solutions

The use of Daphnia to control algal blooms is just one example of solving environmental challenges with nature-based solutions.

Growing urban forests to provide cooling and improve air quality to help reduce the need for more energy-intensive air conditioning is another example. Maintaining urban wetlands can help reduce flooding, protect property and recharge groundwater more effectively and for less money than building and maintaining levees. Coastal marshes similarly reduce erosion, buffer storm surges and support fisheries.

All these urban ecosystems protect biodiversity and support human health and well-being.

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From national landmarks to city parks and backyard ponds, projects of all sizes can take advantage of nature-based solutions. While each specific project is unique, some general principles apply.

Ecosystems are most resilient when they are diverse and connected. So, it is beneficial to use a variety of species and genotypes and provide corridors that support the movement of organisms and their beneficial genes.

Urban climates are changing rapidly, so it helps to use species and genotypes that will thrive under future conditions, including rising temperatures.

Not every solution has to be engineered

The hubbub over the Reflecting Pool holds a mirror up to assumptions about how to solve pressing environmental challenges. The idea of just engineering one’s way out of any environmental crisis has limits.

Understanding ecology and nature’s mechanisms of ecosystem resilience can achieve sustainable solutions that benefit both nature and people.

Eric Palkovacs, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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