SEP 2014, RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — A woman is charged with attempting to obtain property by false pretense after being accused of filing a fraudulent deed on a multimillion-dollar home in Raleigh.

Dawn Mangum turned herself in Monday night and faced Wake County Judge Mark Stevens the following day in court. He raised her bond from $100,000 to $150,000.

The home is owned by Dr. Craig Adams, a local dentist. When asked about his thoughts on the situation, he said, “Shock, disbelief, violated. Total shock this could actually happen.”

Adams says his home is currently listed for sale, but the past few weeks have been a headache. “I live in a gated community and we put the house up for sale [about] two and a half months ago. This woman, Dawn Mangum, called PPM, our property management company. She lied and said she had recently taken ownership of the house.”

The local dentist says he then learned of a warranty deed filing dated August 12, 2024, for his home’s address, which showed “recording prepared: Dawn Mangum Estate” and “when recorded return to: Dawn Mangum Trust.” Adams says he has never talked to or met Mangum. 

“I think that her intent was to come into my house, squat, and show these fraudulent papers that she owns the house, which would have been a real problem getting her out,” Adams said.

After Adams filed a report with the Wake County Sheriff’s Office, Mangum was arrested this week. As of Tuesday afternoon, she remains in custody.

Adams says his focus is getting this whole situation resolved. “I think we were able to stop the actual transfer,” he said. “We made some quick moves downtown in registered deeds and reported it to the sheriff. “The sad thing about it is the register of deeds tells us there’s no way to reverse this without going through a really lengthy, expensive, arduous legal process, which that in and of itself is a problem.”

The local dentist says he would like to see legislative change and changes to the process at the Register of Deeds to better protect homeowners.

Under North Carolina law, Registers of Deeds are statutorily obligated to accept and immediately register documents in conformity with G.S. 161-14. The Register of Deeds is not required to verify the legal validity of a deed when it is presented for registration, nor are they required to verify the credentials or legal standing of the notary or drafter of the document (G.S. 47-14).  With more than 500 documents processed through the Wake County Register of Deeds office daily, it would be impossible to verify the legitimacy of each document or the credentials of each notary, nor does the Register of Deeds office have access to a database of commissioned North Carolina notaries to check against.

Source: https://www.cbs17.com/news/local-news/wake-county-news/bond-lowered-for-woman-accused-of-filing-false-documents-on-raleigh-home/

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