New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has created a new office focused on fighting deed theft.
Mamdani pledged to establish the new office during his 2025 election campaign. The Gothamist reports the new Office of Deed Theft Prevention was created two days after Councilmember Chi Ossé was arrested outside of a Brooklyn residence while trying to stop the eviction of a resident who claimed she was a deed theft victim.
Although New York Attorney General Letitia James and the limited liability company that purchased the Brooklyn property claimed there was no deed theft involved in this case, Mamdani said the state received more than 500 complaints of deed theft within the city last year, mostly in Brooklyn and Queens.
“Deed theft not only disproportionately robs Black and brown New Yorkers of their homes, it also robs them of the stability that their homes provide,” Mamdani said. “City government has too often stood idly by while deed theft occurs, rather than acting to prevent it. We are bringing that era to an end.”
The new office will be housed in the Department of Finance and is tasked with investigating fraud claims and halting evictions while complaints are investigated. He added the office would conduct outreach to at-risk homeowners and fund a program to help homeowners and their heirs clearly define property inheritance.
Peter White, who recently served as a supervising lawyer in the Homeowner Assistance Program at the nonprofit Access Justice Brooklyn, will head the new office.
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