How thieves stole a Toronto condo in 'total title fraud', selling it for $970,000

How thieves stole a Toronto condo and sold it for $970K

"I was freaking out and I couldn't believe what was going on here. The whole thing was outrageous, unbelievable, and it took me a while to digest," says Moffy Yu about her ordeal to recover her condo after it was listed and sold by a new kind of fraudster.

How thieves stole a Toronto condo in 'total title fraud,' selling it for $970,000

This is not the first case of 'a fraudulent impostor' claiming to be the property's owner, having manufactured and prepared identification to sell the home

How Thieves Stole a Toronto Condo in 'Total Title Fraud', Selling It for $970,000

The professional photographs posted on a property tour website last year show Moffy Yu’s condo in downtown Toronto, a light-filled two-bedroom home with floor-to-ceiling windows framing sweeping views from the tallest residential tower in Canada. Documents provided by Yu show the home was listed for $978,000 last May 11, then sold for $970,000 nine days later, near the height of the pandemic property boom. Ontario land title documents show owner…

How thieves stole a Toronto condo in 'total title fraud,' sold it for $970Gs

Total title fraud is "extremely problematic," because both a true homeowner and an unsuspecting new purchaser are victimized.

This is how thieves stole a Toronto condo and sold it for $970,000

Moffy Yu, a former international student who now lives in China's Hubei province, said she never put her home in Toronto up for sale. Instead, she says, it was stolen.

Thieves stole a Toronto condo in 'total title fraud', and sold it for $970,000

The professional photographs posted on a property tour website last year show Moffy Yu's condo in downtown Toronto, a light-filled two-bedroom home with floor-to-ceiling windows framing sweeping views from the tallest residential tower in Canada.