INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Steven Grosik got some surprising news in the mail about a year ago. Someone had stolen his backyard.
Since then, Grosik, a grocery-store clerk who lives in North Philadelphia, has been navigating a legal maze to try to get it back.
"I'm already almost a year into this, and it's still not finished," Grosik told a City Council committee Wednesday during testimony on a bill introduced by Councilman Bill Greenlee in the hope of deterring such crimes.
The bill would require the city Records Department to check whether the name of a person transferring a property matches that of the current owner. If the names did not match, the bill would require the department to not record the deed and possibly refer the case to law enforcement.
Greenlee and Councilwoman Maria Quiñones-Sánchez, who also has worked on the bill, said property theft often creates multiple victims. The first is the person whose land or house is stolen, but sometimes the thief sells the property, creating a second victim.
Greenlee said the bill is a "simple check," but Records Commissioner Joan Decker opposes it. She said state law and a court order require the city to record deeds immediately.
That stance flabbergasted Greenlee.
"You mean that no matter what junk is presented to you, you're required to record it?" he asked.
Grosik testified that someone named Anthony Mitchell created a phony document to take his property. The document had two obvious problems, he said. For one, it didn't have Grosik's name on it. Instead, it listed the previous owner, Red Sargent.
Grosik said the Records Department could have prevented the crime by checking the name on the transfer document against the current deed, which would have shown Grosik as the owner.
"To find out that they took my property without using my name, that's not even right," Grosik said.
Also, the notary seal on the document had expired before the new deed was filed.
He found out that his backyard had been stolen because a Philadelphia law aimed at preventing such theft requires the Records Department to notify owners of property transfers. Grosik complained to the Records Department immediately, only to be told the city could do nothing.
