Renthusiast2.0

Paul Reviczky, 89, who fled Hungary for Canada in 1957 in order to escape communism, has become the latest in a string of victims of property title fraud in Canada, Reviczky’s Toronto bungalow was sold without his knowledge, leaving him hundreds of thousands of dollars out of pocket and he is unable to recover his property because local laws favour purchasers over victims of fraud. The crime has left the property in a state of legal limbo with the purchaser unable to live there and Reviczky legally unable to even to enter the premises. “I was shocked to learn that this could be the law in Canada,” Reviczky told the Toronto Star. “I fled Hungary to escape lawlessness like this and now my sense of security in Canada is gone.”
Reviczky, who hasn’t seen a cent of the proceeds, is more interested in recovering his home than the profits from its sale. However, Ontario law recognises a purchase as valid in cases, like this, where a purchaser is not in on a scam. Reviczky’s situation has several local precedents. Widow Susan Lawrence faces the loss of a home she’s lived in for 30 years after crooks used publically available information to pose as her and sell her home out from under her feet.In another case, an actress lost her home to ID thieves who sold her property to an accomplice, who disappeared after securing a bogus $250,000 mortgage in her name.
[full story via Fark]