Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Pennsylvania

Property Transfer

If two people own a house together in PA and one transfers their half to the other for $1.00 does the transaction have to be notarized in front of an Attorney for either party or can both parties go outside to a notorary and bring the papers back to the attorney I had my half of the house taken from me by fraud and wanted to know if the Attorney that filed the paper work should have let his client take the papers out to be notorized where he forged my name to it also Can the Attorney be held liable for any damages


Asked on 6/09/08, 8:09 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Miriam Jacobson Retired from practice of law

Re: Property Transfer

Deeds have to be signed by the owner, notarized, and then recorded in the office of the Recorder of Deeds for the County.

If anyone forges the signature of an owner, whether a half owner or the owner of the whole property, that is not a valid transfer.

If I understand your question correctly, your co-owner forged your name and stole your 1/2 interest in the house.

This may be corrected by your going through a "Quiet Title" action, a law suit to set aside the forged deed and restore your ownership.

It's dismaying to think that an attorney would have participated in such a fraud.

You should report this to the police in the county where the PA property is, and report the attorney to the PA Disciplinary Board [you can google it]. Then you'll need a lawyer to help you with the law suit. It's generally not something that you can do yourself.

You may also be able to go after the notary. They are required to be bonded, and you might recover money under their bond, which would help you with the legal fees for the Quiet Title action.

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Answered on 6/09/08, 9:22 pm


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