$41 billion in heirs property is at risk nationally, and the families who own it are being failed at every turn.
This page documents what happened. What is missing. And what IPN is doing about it.
This is not an isolated problem. It is a pattern, one that disproportionately strips generational wealth from Black families, rural landowners, and heirs who never knew they were at risk.
Fraudulent Deeds Still Stand, Close the Legal Gap
In North Carolina a criminal conviction for deed fraud does not automatically correct the fraudulent record. Victims are turned away from courthouses and left to pay $300–$350/hour to correct public record failures.
We are calling on the NC General Assembly to pass legislation requiring:
Every signature brings this legislation one step closer.
When real estate passes through generations without formal probate, no one has clear legal title. This creates vulnerability to forced sales, partition actions, and predatory investors.
The Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act is now law in NC, but only protects families who know to invoke it.
Most families never do. That is the gap IPN was built to close.
In May 2024, Tammy B. Legette, licensed real estate broker and founder of IPN, identified a fraudulent affidavit and deed within a family estate file in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina while navigating a personal family estate matter. What followed was a documented pattern of systemic failure.
May 2025
Fraudulent affidavit and deed identified in Mecklenburg County Register of Deeds and estate file.
May 2025, Ongoing
Repeated attempts to file corrective petitions under G.S. 28A-2-6 denied. Redirected between departments without resolution. Intake refused without legal review.
2025
A criminal conviction was entered in Mecklenburg County Superior Court confirming the documents were fraudulent.
2026
Fraudulent deed remains active in Register of Deeds. No corrective pathway made available.
March 2026
Formal notice submitted to NC Governor Josh Stein, Attorney General Jeff Jackson, Court Administrator, NC OAC, and NC DOJ.
March 2026
Governor's Office responds. Matter referred to NC Department of Justice.
"A criminal conviction has been entered. The fraudulent record still stands. And the victim was turned away from the courthouse without being allowed to file a single petition to correct it. Fraud victims should not bear the financial and procedural burden of correcting failures that originated within public systems. This is not a personal grievance. It is a structural failure."
- Tammy B. Legette
Founder, Inherited Property Navigator™ · Licensed Real Estate Broker, NC & SC
After a criminal conviction for deed fraud in Mecklenburg County, here is what IPN found does not exist:
No Post-Conviction Correction Process
No Mandatory Filing Acceptance Standard
No Temporary Record Flagging System
No Standardized Public Access Protocol
No Victim Relief Measures
Mandatory Filing Acceptance
Fraud Review Pathway in Clerk's Office
Temporary Record Flagging
Standardized Public Access Protocol
Victim Relief Measures, reduced or waived fees for verified fraud victims
March 2026
Formal notice submitted
March 2026
Governor's Office responds
March 2026
Matter referred to NC DOJ
The conversations are happening at the highest levels of NC government. We continue to push until the law changes.
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