Harris County Attorney Abbie Kamin filed two civil lawsuits against nine people accused of forging deeds to steal at least 10 homes across the county.

Kamin announced the suits at a Wednesday, Sept. 9, news conference, saying investigators believe the defendants used forged signatures, fabricated identities and fraudulent notarizations to transfer properties away from rightful owners. The defendants allegedly passed deeds among themselves, then tried to sell the homes to unsuspecting buyers, KPRC 2 reported.

Rightful owners have lost access to about seven of the properties, each valued between $100,000 and $250,000, according to county officials. The lawsuits seek to return the properties to their rightful owners and civil penalties where appropriate.

Spring is unincorporated, so Harris County handles property records and fraud enforcement for Spring-area homeowners. The same tools Kamin urged county residents to use apply directly to Spring properties.

"I'm here because me and our family had our family home stolen out from under us by someone we have never met," Keata Wade said at the news conference.

Wade's family home on Teton Street in Houston's Sunnyside neighborhood is among the properties named in the lawsuits. Her grandmother bought the home intending to keep it in the family. Her father later lived there until his death.

According to the Harris County Attorney's Office, defendants allegedly forged a warranty deed by posing as a member of the Wade family, then transferred ownership to defendant Antia Martinez, ABC 13 reported.

In some cases, scammers allegedly had unrelated documents notarized, removed the notarized acknowledgment page and attached it to a fraudulent deed before filing it with the county clerk. Investigators also found cases in which a deceased homeowner's identity was allegedly used to transfer property before heirs knew what had happened.

The investigation began after two homeowners contacted the Harris County Attorney's Office. As investigators traced deed histories, they repeatedly encountered the same names and forged signatures, uncovering additional properties and potential victims.

The nine defendants named by Houston Public Media are Mario Cavazos, Amelia Martinez, Maria Del Rosario Gonzalez-Garcia, Antia Martinez, Francisco Diaz Martinez, Francisca Rodriguez, Jorge Villatoro, David Garcia Garcia, Juan Guevara and David Carmona. Only Rodriguez had obtained an attorney as of Sept. 9, according to online court records. Houston Public Media reported that Rodriguez's attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment and the other eight defendants could not immediately be reached.

The first lawsuit, filed Aug. 11, accuses Antia Martinez, Carmona and five others of being "prolific perpetrators of deed fraud," according to the Houston Chronicle. One defendant, Guevara, was previously convicted of felony theft, including several counts of theft of real estate, the lawsuit states.

The second lawsuit accuses Cavazos, Amelia Martinez and Gonzalez-Garcia of forging signatures of dead property owners and selling the stolen properties to unsuspecting buyers. Amelia Martinez pleaded guilty in 2021 to forging a financial document to defraud an elder and completed deferred adjudication for that charge, the Chronicle reported.

No criminal charges have been filed in these specific cases. The Harris County Attorney's Office said it is coordinating with the Harris County District Attorney's Office and law enforcement agencies.

New state laws and how to check property records

The lawsuits follow new Texas laws aimed at preventing deed theft. Senate Bill 16 (SB 16), effective Sept. 17, 2025, created two new felony offenses: real property theft and real property fraud. SB 16 also requires photo ID when filing a real property document at a county clerk's office. Senate Bill 647, signed in 2025, lets county clerks seek additional documentation when they have reason to believe a filing is fraudulent.

Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth told the Chronicle in July 2025 that her office was developing a free Property Alert System to notify homeowners when a document is recorded under their name.

Kamin recommended homeowners check their property records at least once a year. The steps: search by address at HCAD.org to find the property's legal description, then search that legal description on the Harris County Clerk's website at CClerk.HCTX.net to look for unfamiliar names, transfers or filings.

Residents who suspect property fraud can report it at the Harris County Attorney's Office website by selecting the "Stay Scam Free" tab at cao.harriscountytx.gov.