Not ‘for sale’

The posting of “For Sale” signs on two trees fronting an undeveloped lot caught a neighbor’s attention. No telephone number. No real estate agent named. 

The curious neighbor happened to send an email to the property owner, who lives off-Island, asking if she was really trying to sell the property.

And so the real estate fraud began to be uncovered.

Stealing property isn’t easy, but it happens, and this incident in West Tisbury may be the most sophisticated attempt on Martha’s Vineyard, according to some listing agents on the Island.

Ms. Germaine Ingram purchased the property on Skiff’s Lane in 1983, though she lives in Philadelphia. Via email, she told her curious neighbor that the property is not in fact for sale, and then, trained as an attorney, began the process of halting the fraud.

The real estate website Zillow identified the property and the licensed real estate agent. According to Ingram, the property had been listed for just a couple of days. “I started contacting law enforcement agencies,” Ingram told me.

Century 21 Realtor Brad Morse of Westborough said that he was contacted via email from a potential seller. The contact was using the name listed to belong to Ingram. There was nothing unusual about the contact. The listing agreement was signed electronically.

Morse then went to the West Tisbury Town Hall to be sure there were no liens on the property, and to check town bylaws regarding signage.

“I bought the two simplest signs, just black and white. No names, no phone numbers, just ‘for sale,’” he said.

Morse then drove to the property, posted the signs on trees, and hoped for a buyer.

“My client, the alleged seller, wanted a quick sale. I had said I thought $750,000 was a realistic price. But she wrote me back that she needed a quick sale because of pending medical expenses, so we lowered the asking price to $699,000.”

Morse said that he had not gotten any inquiries, but it was only posted on the Zillow real estate website for a couple of days before the real owner contacted him. 

“The only clue I should have gotten — but didn’t — was that the fraudster flipped her name to Ingram Germaine. I just thought it was a typo,” Morse said, noting that the first and surname had been flipped. “Meeting with sellers of a home in person is very common to prepare a home for staging and photos. For land it’s not necessary, especially for a remote seller.”

After the real property owner and her attorney contacted Morse, the listing was withdrawn and the Boston office of the FBI were contacted. 

To date neither Morse nor Ingram has been contacted by the FBI.

According to Morse, if a “purchase and sale agreement” is signed, then closing attorneys complete the transaction again, using electronic services like DotLoop or DocSign. 

“That`s a pretty standard procedure. In-person ink signing is a thing of the past.”

Fortunately the West Tisbury Skiffs Lane property theft fraud attempt was caught early in the process. However, property theft succeeds often across New England.

The FBI Boston Division (including Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island) informed The MV Times that the most recent data regarding reported real estate property theft losses in the four-state district (from 2022–24 records) shows that more than $59 million has been stolen from 2,196 property owners in that time period. Massachusetts had the highest report of loss.

The Massachusetts Secretary of State’s office created an alerting system through the Registry of Deeds. On Martha’s Vineyard, Register of Deeds  Paulo C. DeOliveira maintains the alert, called the “consumer notification system,” where property owners may free of charge post up to three properties (open land or a home site). If there is any inquiry about the property, the owner is notified.

“Realtors are the first line of defense. If a fraudulent seller creates a sense of urgency or drops the suggested price, that should set off alarms,” DeOliveria said.