A recent Wall Street Journal article points out that those empty townhouses on the block might be targets for online deed fraud which is more rampant these days in an exceptional housing market. Some of these buildings were given away by the government several decades ago and the owners have not fixed up the Harlem properties that are basically worth about $1 million even though they probably need several hundred thousand dollars to renovate.
What is happening now is that online thieves look for these vacant homes and then find the deeds online in order to fake their own paperwork to unsuspecting buyers. Those seeing brownstones listed for all cash deals for well under a million might want to have a professional research the deed history to make sure everything is in order. More in the Journal:
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If someone was given a brownstone several decades ago and have not fixed them up, the city should take them back. This is a problem of everyone.
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