The extraordinary ‘theft’ of a woman’s NYC home | New York Post

A Manhattan woman claims an ex-con stole her family home in Queens by filing a phony deed with the city and moving in.

Now Jennifer Merin is battling in court to remove the convicted armed robber, Darrell Beatty, 49, and his sons, Darrell Kash Beatty, 25, and DeShaun Beatty, 22, from the three-bedroom Tudor she says they snatched in February.

“It just devastates me,” Merin, an online film critic, said as she looked at cherished family heirlooms — photos, a circa-1920 bed frame, vintage suitcases, classic television sets, a smashed 6-foot vase — piled like trash in the garage of the Laurelton home.

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Since the Merin case, staffers have been retrained to flag discrepancies, such as unusually low sale prices or suspect businesses, and personal information is checked against previously filed city records.

City property owners can also sign up for a new Finance Department service that alerts them if a change is made to their deed.

Since June, the new policies have red-flagged more than 500 deed transfers. While many were found to contain legitimate filing errors, at least 100 deeds impacting 300 properties are now being investigated as possible frauds, Fucito said.
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Darrell Kash Beatty leaves the home in Queens where Merin says illegal squatters are living.Photo: VICTORALCORN.COM

Often they involve crooked attorneys and title companies, he said.

“We want to stem the tide of fraudulent filings,” the sheriff said.

The extraordinary ‘theft’ of a woman’s NYC home | New York Post