HENRY COUNTY, Ga. — “Why would I sell them the house for nothing, just give it to him? It doesn’t make sense,” Jamie Norris told Channel 2 Consumer Investigator Justin Gray.
But according to records on file in the Henry County deed book, she did just that and transferred the title of her Locust Grove home to a company called T and T Properties Limited Inc. for zero dollars.
It happened because she signed a document called a quit claim deed.
“He said, ‘You’re not signing your house over. It’s just for collateral,’” Norris said.
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Norris was behind her property taxes and says T and T Properties offered her a loan to cover the $6,850 she owed in taxes, but required her to sign the quit claim deed.
Attorney Sarah Mancini with the National Consumer Law Center says homeowners should never sign over a quit claim deed when trying to get a loan.
“There’s really no good reason to have someone sign over a deed to their house if you’re lending them money,” she said.
Mancini says it is not normal for securing a loan but is common with people engaging in foreclosure relief schemes.
“The person who’s claiming to help you is saying they’re lending you money to help get you out of foreclosure, but they’re in reality trying to steal the ownership of the house,” she said.
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The attorney for T and T, Ed Joyner, claims the company did nothing wrong and said a quit claim deed is a way for a lender to protect their investment without having to go through the foreclosure process.
Mancini says that is exactly the problem.
“The lender, if it’s a loan, should not be allowed to take that entire house,” Mancini said.
But in July, T and T filed a motion in court to evict Norris. In court papers, the company claimed she was a tenant who was delinquent on rent.
A magistrate judge ruled in Norris’ favor, saying there is “no landlord tenant relationship.”
Norris says T and T was charging her $700 a month, interest only, on the loan and when she asked about paying it off in full, the payout amount was significantly more than what she received from the company. That is when she says she learned T and T held the title to her home and she stopped paying.
“This interest is higher than a pawn shop,” Norris said
Joyner says if Norris will pay off the loan, T and T will return the title. But T and T has filed again for a dispossessory to have her evicted, and now claims Norris owes more than $12,000 including interest, late fees and attorney fees.
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