Kim Nelson, a Title Officer from Chicago Title's Oxnard, California office, stopped a transaction from closing that would have been a $1.8 million fraudulent sale. The order for a preliminary report was opened on a rush by an independent escrow company. The subject property was free and clear of any liens. The buyer was financing the purchase with a hard money lender.

As soon as the preliminary report was sent out the lender funded $1.2 million to Chicago Title's trust account. The buyer was pressing to close. Closing documents, including the seller's signed deed and buyer's signed deed of trust, were delivered to Kim by the independent escrow company.

Kim sensed something was wrong as she had never heard of the escrow company or done any business with them. She searched for their website and their license online, and quickly discovered the company did not exist.

Next, Kim carefully reviewed the documents delivered to her as she suspected the deed had been forged. She pulled recorded documents from the chain of title containing the property owner's signature and confirmed the deed had been forged.

The documents had another title company stamped on them so the other title company must have rejected the deal and the crooks took it to Chicago Title. Kim guessed the crooks probably thought they could take the transaction to an out–of–county office, and convince them to record and pull off the crime of stealing someone else's property.

Kim did some more research and found out the property was abandoned, and had become a landmark known as a "murder mansion" after a previous owner, a doctor, went crazy and attacked his family in 1959.

The news article that Kim uncovered said the doctor went after his wife with a hammer, bludgeoning her to death. The doctor later drank a glass of acid, which killed him. The doctor and wife had three kids, who survived the attack and lived to tell the story.

Kim notified her local underwriter who agreed the deed was forged and confirmed the company had other claims with the parties to the transaction, namely the buyer and the lender. Kim canceled her file and returned the lender's funds.

Kim posted an Office Information (OI) to the chain of the title for the subject property, so if the deal is opened at yet another company office, they will be instructed to call Chicago Title before insuring.

As quickly as the order opened and funded, Kim wanted to make sure no company office got burned on this deal. For Kim's recognition of the forgery and for acting swiftly to protect the Company from a future claim, she has been rewarded $1,500 as well as a letter of recognition from the Company.