Man Held in Forged Deed Scheme

Los Angeles police Friday arrested a man on suspicion of forging deeds on at least two San Fernando Valley houses in order to fraudulently borrow money.

The man, identified as Richard Bassen, 43, was arrested at Tiffany Home Loans in Encino as he attempted to collect a $120,000 check for a loan police said was made against a Van Nuys house without the knowledge of its owner.

Police Lt. Duane Gansemer said the man has “been uncooperative, and we don’t think that’s his real name.”

Police said Bassen is also a suspect in a case in which someone last February took out a $130,000 loan on a Sherman Oaks house using a forged deed.

Referring to the possibility of similar cases, Gansemer, who heads the Valley Forgery Division, said: “I think there will be a few more to surface.’

Method for Scheme

Police said they believe the fraudulent loans were obtained in this manner:

Someone combed Valley neighborhoods for vacant homes with “for sale” signs and entered by taking the house keys from the lock boxes. These are boxes that real estate firms often put on properties to let agents show houses to prospectives buyers when the occupants are not at home.

After getting a physical description of the house and conducting a title search on the property, it would be possible to forge a grant deed, Gansemer said. The bogus deed could then be recorded with the Los Angeles County registrar-recorder’s office.

If prospective lenders did not thoroughly confirm the records on the property and all the loan-application information, police said, a fraudulent loan could be obtained.

Bassen was being held at Van Nuys Jail on suspicion of forgery in lieu of $500,000 bail.

Bassen “had a great deal of knowledge about real estate,” Gansemer said. “He was very sophisticated.”

Police said it appeared that the mortgage company involved in the Sherman Oaks case, Ticor Title Insurance Co., did not confirm all the information on the loan application before issuing the check.

On Feb. 3, Bassen picked up a check from Ticor for a loan based on a false grant deed he had presented for a house on Valley Vista Boulevard in Sherman Oaks, Gansemer said.

No Mortgage Payments

Ticor contacted police in April after no mortgage payments had been made, and foreclosed on the property only to find from county records that the man they had made the loan to was not the owner, Gansemer said, adding: “The people who owned the property really screamed.”

Bassen’s arrest came after an alleged recent application to Tiffany Home Loans for a loan against a house on Louise Avenue in Van Nuys.

Company employees were tipped off when, to confirm the transfer of the property, they called the person they believed to be the former owner, who turned out to be the existing one.

Tiffany employees then notified police, who had been investigating the fraud involving Ticor.