First Charges Brought Under Myrie Deed Theft Law

QUEENS— Today Senator Zellnor Myrie (D-Central Brooklyn) joined Attorney General Letitia James and legislative colleagues on the steps of Queens County Criminal Court to announce two indictments under a law Myrie sponsored to criminalize deed theft. The charges represent the first time Myrie's legislation has been used to obtain criminal indictments for deed theft.

“Deed theft is a cruel and insidious scam that robs longtime homeowners of their property and wealth,” said Senator Zellnor Myrie. “Far too many New Yorkers have fallen prey to deed theft, which disproportionately impacts lower-income, older or otherwise vulnerable homeowners, especially Black and brown New Yorkers who have spent generations in the same home. The indictments Attorney General James secured today are a testament to the need for strong laws protecting homeowners from deed theft. I was proud to sponsor this law and I am grateful to the Attorney General, her team and my colleagues for supporting it." 

Deed theft occurs when someone takes the title, or deed, to another person’s home without the homeowner’s knowledge or approval. It disproportionately impacts elderly homeowners and homeowners of color, especially New Yorkers in gentrifying neighborhoods who live in homes that have significantly increased in value over the years. 

Myrie, who organized a public hearing on deed theft in 2022, authored the legislation establishing the criminal offense of deed theft as a form of grand larceny. His legislation, signed in 2024, also gives the Attorney General new tools to investigate and prosecute deed theft.

The charges announced today stem from a 2024 incident in which two people allegedly worked together to steal the home of an elderly widow in Kew Gardens Hills. If convicted under the new law, the two face a maximum sentence of eight and one-third to 25 years in prison.