Identity thief steals house

By STELLA M. CHAVEZ / The Dallas Morning News

FRISCO – James Cook talked Saturday about what it's like to return from a trip to find someone else claiming to own your home.

First is the fear.

He and his wife, Paula, spent their first night back in a walk-in closet, a steel pipe by their side, prepared for uninvited guests.

Then comes the disbelief.

They met a man who said he owned their house the next day.

"I said: 'Like hell you do. She does.' And I pointed to my wife," Mr. Cook, 48, said Saturday while standing in the house, which is currently vacant.

"It's very outrageous. Basically, you've had your house stolen."

Mr. Cook, an insurance adjuster, had been on a business trip in mid-June and his wife caring for her ailing mother in Oklahoma when their home's warranty deed was unknowingly transferred to another individual. The locks on the two-story house had been changed.

Frisco police Sgt. Gina McFarlin said the department is investigating the case. No charges have been filed.

Denton County property records list Carlos Ramirez of The Colony as the grantee on the home's warranty deed. It lists Paula Smart – Mrs. Cook's maiden name – as the grantor.

Another individual, whom police have not named, claimed to have put a $12,000 down payment on the house, authorities said.

Mr. Ramirez could not be reached for comment Saturday.

Mr. Cook said he and his wife had planned to sell their 3,400-square-foot home but had not yet put it on the market.

The Cooks have since moved to Shawnee, Okla., to be near Mrs. Cook's mother, who has cancer. But the distance hasn't helped, Mr. Cook said.

"We feel violated, angry and frustrated," he said.

Identity thief steals house