Queens man charged after allegedly stealing deed to home of woman with dementia
A Queens man has been charged with deed theft after the New York Attorney General accused him of forging paperwork to steal the home of a woman with dementia.
Mark Salkey, 58, has also been accused of stealing more than $160,000 from Althea Garrick and her ex-husband, Reginald Kelly. Kelly said he is heartbroken and frustrated by the ordeal and had to move into Garrick's room to help care for her.
Investigators said he forged the paperwork to take over the deed in 2022 and 2024, then began renting it out to strangers while Garrick still lived in one of the bedrooms. Salkey allegedly charged the tenants tens of thousands of dollars.
"No one should have to fear that their home is being stolen, especially not when we are facing an ongoing housing and affordability crisis," New York Attorney General Letitia James said.
A CBS News New York investigation conducted in April found that complaints about deed thefts to the New York AG's office have tripled in the last few years.
"Very few people get caught," said Haywood Talcove, an executive at LexisNexis Risk Solutions, which advises agencies on fraud risk across the country.
Talcove said that local governments need to do more to verify paperwork to avoid situations like this, and that they are posting too much information online, such as property-specific ID numbers, which can help fraudsters forge deeds.
"The problem is there's so much volume in that office, they're so understaffed, they're so overworked, they just don't have time," Talcove said.
The New York City Department of Finance said it works to verify the documents. They declined to comment on Garrick's case, citing it as an ongoing investigation.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani has also begun to tackle the issue of stolen deeds, launching an Office of Deed Theft Prevention back in April. He hopes to prevent more stories, such as Garrick and Kelly.
"There is a task force that has been established. And we're continuing to look at local law, state law, and federal law. How we can prevent deed theft from happening?" James said.
New York City's finance department declined to be interviewed for this story. Salkey and his attorney also declined.
