The Probate Nightmare: How a Florida Couple Stole Homes With 70-Cent Quitclaim Deeds
In 2024, a married couple in Tampa forged quitclaim deeds to steal three homes, including properties belonging to a deceased family member. The fraud cost 70 cents to file. It took the victims over a year to get their homes back. Both scammers are now serving 15 years in prison.
Mo Ayadi
Founder, Title Barrier | Property Fraud Prevention
By Mo Ayadi, Founder of Title Barrier | Updated February 11, 2026
On February 14, 2024, a woman walked into the Hillsborough County Clerk of Court's office in Tampa, Florida, and filed a quitclaim deed. The document transferred ownership of a home on a quiet residential street to a company she controlled. The filing cost less than a dollar.
The real homeowners, Larry and Dreama Bilby, had lived at that address for nearly 40 years. They were not at the clerk's office that day. They had not signed anything. They had no idea their home had just been given to a stranger.
The woman who filed the document was Michelle Cherry, age 33. She and her husband, Victor Rodriguez, 50, had moved to Tampa from Miami in January 2024. Within weeks of arriving, they would forge documents on three separate homes in Hillsborough County. One of those properties belonged to Rodriguez's own deceased ex-father-in-law.
Both are now serving 15 years in Florida state prison.
This is the story of what happened, how it was caught, and why it still took the victims more than a year to get their homes back.
Stealing From the Dead
The scheme appears to have started with a death in the family.
Caroline Sauer is Victor Rodriguez's ex-wife. Shortly after her father passed away, Sauer's family made a discovery that turned their grief into something worse. The titles on her father's properties in Miami-Dade County had all been changed through quitclaim deeds.
Someone had forged her deceased father's signature on transfer documents and filed them with the county. When the family examined the paperwork, they recognized the handwriting.
It was Rodriguez. Her ex-husband had forged her dead father's signature to steal his properties.
"We found out that the titles of my father's properties had all changed through quitclaim deeds," Sauer told FOX 13 Tampa Bay. "We questioned: How did this happen? Who forges a deceased person's signature? Who does that?"
Miami-Dade County court documents described the deeds as "fraudulent and forged" and indicated that Rodriguez had "clearly forged" his ex-father-in-law's signature.
The Sauer family hired a handwriting expert and began spending heavily on legal fees to fight the fraudulent transfers. For a long time, they felt like they were the only ones dealing with this. They were not.
The Bilby Home
While the Sauer family was fighting Rodriguez in Miami-Dade courts, Rodriguez and Cherry were already working their next targets in Tampa.
Larry and Dreama Bilby's home was under renovation in early 2024. The couple had lived there for nearly 40 years, but the house was temporarily unoccupied while construction work was underway. They had installed surveillance cameras to keep an eye on the property while they were away.
In February 2024, Dreama Bilby noticed something on the security footage: a man and a woman she did not recognize were coming and going from the property. They appeared to be prowling around the house.
Concerned, the Bilbys decided to sign up for Hillsborough County's free Property Fraud Alert system, which sends notifications whenever a document is filed against a registered property. They signed up on February 14, 2024.
It was the same day Cherry had walked into the clerk's office and filed the forged quitclaim deed.
Within 48 hours, the Bilbys received an alert. A change in ownership had been recorded on their deed. When they checked the filing online, they saw their home now legally belonged to a stranger, transferred into a company they had never heard of.
"I was so angry, I almost couldn't talk," Dreama Bilby told FOX 13. "I was so angry."
What 70 Cents Buys You
The Bilbys' home had just been stolen. The tool used to steal it was a quitclaim deed, one of the simplest legal documents in real estate.
A quitclaim deed transfers whatever ownership interest one party has in a property to another. It makes no guarantees about the validity of that ownership. In Florida, filing one requires a notary stamp, two witness signatures, and a processing fee. That fee, in Hillsborough County, is roughly 70 cents.
"Just like that, your house is stolen. It's gone," Larry Bilby told reporters. "It only cost 70 cents and some paperwork."
Hillsborough County Clerk of Court Cindy Stuart explained the vulnerability. "The document only requires a notary and two signatures with an address listed next to them," Stuart said. County clerks in Florida serve a ministerial role. By law, they cannot look beyond the face of a deed to determine whether it is legitimate. If the formatting and notarization requirements appear to be met, the deed gets recorded.
This means a forged quitclaim deed, with fabricated signatures and a fake notary stamp, enters the public record just as easily as a real one. It only becomes a problem when someone discovers it.
The Investigation
The Bilbys did not wait. On the same day they received the fraud alert, they went to the Hillsborough County Clerk's office and filed a criminal report. Larry Bilby then went to the legal library in the clerk's office and placed a $500,000 lien on his own property. The lien was a calculated move: it prevented Cherry and Rodriguez from being able to resell the house or take out loans against it while the investigation proceeded.
But the couple did not stop coming around. The Bilbys' surveillance cameras continued to capture Cherry and Rodriguez at the property. The footage showed them collecting mail from the house and even having food delivered there, as though they actually lived there.
A neighbor who had known the Bilbys for 40 years confronted the strangers. The neighbor happened to be a bailiff in the Tampa court system. When he asked them what they were doing at the house, Cherry and Rodriguez told him they owned the home. They said they had bought it from Larry.
"He said, I know that not to be true. You need to leave," Dreama Bilby recounted.
Cherry and Rodriguez were caught on surveillance video at the clerk's office filing the forged paperwork. When police confronted them, they maintained they were the real owners. A thorough investigation unraveled the scheme and connected them to two additional properties where the couple had pulled the same fraud.
In March 2024, Cherry and Rodriguez were arrested during a traffic stop in Tampa.
Three Homes, One Method
According to the Hillsborough County State Attorney's Office, Cherry and Rodriguez committed the same crime three times. They filed forged quitclaim deeds at the clerk's office that transferred ownership of the targeted properties into companies controlled by Cherry. They then attempted to strip equity from the homes by selling them to unsuspecting buyers or taking out loans against them.
The method was identical each time:
Identify a vulnerable property. The Bilby home was unoccupied during renovations. Rodriguez's ex-father-in-law's properties in Miami-Dade were sitting in limbo after the owner's death. In every case, there was no one physically present at the property to notice something was wrong.
Forge the deed. A quitclaim deed with the property owner's forged signature, accompanied by fabricated notarization, was prepared and filed at the county clerk's office.
Transfer title into a shell company. The forged deeds moved ownership into companies that Cherry controlled, adding a layer of separation between the fraud and the scammers.
Monetize quickly. Once the county recorded the deed, the property appeared to legally belong to Cherry's companies. The couple then moved to sell or borrow against the properties before anyone caught on.
The Convictions
Cherry and Rodriguez were charged with organized fraud (over $50,000), conspiracy to commit organized fraud, fraudulent use of personal identification information (over $100,000), and unlawfully filing a false document.
In January 2025, Cherry pleaded guilty to multiple counts. As part of her plea deal, she agreed to testify against her husband if the case went to trial.
On March 10, 2025, moments before jury selection was set to begin, Rodriguez changed his plea to guilty. He was sentenced to 15 years in state prison.
"Victor Rodriguez committed property fraud and tried to steal the American Dream from unsuspecting victims," said Hillsborough County State Attorney Suzy Lopez. "This lengthy prison sentence should send a strong message to property pirates: if you attempt to swindle homeowners in Hillsborough County, you will be held accountable."
Cherry was sentenced on May 27, 2025, also to 15 years in prison.
Charles Sauer, Caroline's brother, drove from Miami to attend Rodriguez's sentencing hearing. The case was personal for him. Rodriguez had once been his brother-in-law. "The hardest thing for us emotionally has been, we've just tried to protect my father and his legacy," Caroline Sauer told FOX 13.
The Part Nobody Talks About
The Bilby family caught the fraud within 48 hours. They had surveillance footage. They had the county's fraud alert notification. They filed a criminal report immediately. The perpetrators were arrested within weeks.
And it still took a year and a half to get their home back.
Despite the arrests, despite the criminal charges, despite the clear evidence of forgery, the Bilbys had to endure approximately 18 months of legal proceedings before a court order returned their property. The fraudulent deed had to be formally stricken from the public record. The title had to be reverted. The legal machinery ground forward at its own pace.
"This last year has been a nightmare," Dreama Bilby said at Rodriguez's sentencing. "It has taken years off my life."
Larry Bilby was even more direct. "We would've thought it would've been a little bit longer, only because these cases are very, very rare to come to trial," he said of the sentence. "It's extremely rare to catch this kind of economic bandit. I would've liked to have a longer sentence quite frankly, just to send a message."
Dreama added that despite the conviction, she still did not fully feel like the home was hers again.
This is the part of property fraud that monitoring services and fraud alerts cannot solve. Detection is only the beginning. Recovery is the real fight.
Why Properties in Probate Are Especially Vulnerable
Rodriguez's theft of his ex-father-in-law's properties illustrates a pattern that law enforcement and title professionals see repeatedly across Florida and the rest of the country.
When a homeowner dies, their property enters a vulnerable window. The estate may need to go through probate. Heirs may live out of state. No one is checking the county recorder's website. No one has signed up for property alerts. The house may sit empty for weeks or months.
Scammers know this. They search obituaries and public property records to identify recently deceased homeowners, then forge transfer documents before the estate has been formally settled. By the time heirs discover the fraud, the property may have already been sold to an innocent buyer, and the money is gone.
Florida's Broward County Property Appraiser's Office has documented this pattern in detail: criminals access public records online to identify non-homesteaded properties with unpaid taxes, cross-reference with obituaries, identify out-of-state heirs, and then either forge deeds directly or convince vulnerable heirs to sign over properties for a fraction of their value.
The Sauer family had the resources and determination to fight back. Many families dealing with the loss of a loved one do not have the emotional bandwidth or financial capacity to also battle a property fraud case.
What Florida Changed
The Cherry/Rodriguez case unfolded during a period when Florida was already taking steps to address quitclaim deed fraud.
In 2024, Florida passed legislation mandating that every county clerk's office provide a free electronic notification service by July 1, 2024. The system alerts registered property owners whenever a document is filed against their property in the county's public records. This is the system that saved the Bilbys, and it was implemented specifically because cases like theirs had become so common.
Hillsborough County Clerk Cindy Stuart has pushed for tougher legislation and directed her clerks to watch for red flags in filed documents: misspelled names, nonexistent addresses, misspelled city names. Assistant State Attorney Michael Lennon has called for the law to require the property owner to be physically present when a quitclaim deed is filed. As of this writing, that proposal has not been enacted.
Florida State Prosecutor Mike Lennon noted that quitclaim deed scams are becoming increasingly common. Florida ranks third in the nation for property and mortgage fraud, according to the Hillsborough County Clerk's Office.
Lessons From the Bilby Case
The Bilby case is both a success story and a cautionary tale. Everything worked the way it was supposed to: the fraud alert caught the filing, the surveillance cameras provided evidence, law enforcement acted quickly, and both perpetrators are in prison. And it still took 18 months and significant personal trauma for the Bilbys to recover their home.
Here is what this case teaches property owners:
Sign up for your county's free property fraud alert. This is the single most important step any property owner can take. The Bilbys signed up on the same day the fraud was filed and were notified within 48 hours. Without that alert, they might not have discovered the theft for months. Every Florida county is now required to offer this service. Many counties nationwide offer similar programs.
Install security cameras, especially on unoccupied properties. The Bilby surveillance footage provided critical evidence, capturing Cherry and Rodriguez at the property and at the clerk's office. Without that footage, proving the fraud would have been significantly harder.
Act immediately if you discover a fraudulent filing. The Bilbys went to the clerk's office and filed a criminal report on the same day they received the alert. Larry Bilby's decision to place a $500,000 lien on his own property was a smart legal maneuver that prevented the thieves from monetizing the stolen home.
Understand that detection is not resolution. Even with immediate detection, the legal process to recover a stolen property takes months or years. This is the gap that proactive protection aims to fill. Title Barrier's Defense Plan records a legal declaration directly on a property's chain of title, creating a documented barrier that alerts title companies, lenders, and buyers before a fraudulent transfer can proceed. It does not replace monitoring, but it adds a layer of protection that monitoring alone cannot provide.
Pay extra attention to properties during probate. If you have inherited or are managing property for a deceased family member, check the county recorder's records immediately and register for fraud alerts. The period between a death and the formal settlement of an estate is when these properties are most vulnerable.
Sources
- Hillsborough County State Attorney's Office: Victor Rodriguez Pleads Guilty to 15 Years in Prison for Defrauding Homeowners (March 2025) -- sao13th.com/2025/03/victor-rodriguez-pleads-guilty-to-15-years-in-prison-for-defrauding-homeowners
- Hillsborough County Clerk of Court: Property Fraud Alert Program & Guide -- hillsclerk.com/b/property-fraud-alert-program-guide
- FOX 13 Tampa Bay: Property fraud investigation extends from Bay Area to South Florida (June 2024) -- fox13news.com/news/property-fraud-investigation-extends-from-bay-area-south-florida-court-documents
- WFLA: Woman who filed fake deeds to steal Hillsborough homes gets 15 years in prison (May 2025) -- wfla.com/news/hillsborough-county/woman-who-filed-fake-deeds-to-steal-hillsborough-homes-gets-15-years-in-prison
- WFLA: Man gets 15 years for stealing Hillsborough County houses (March 2025) -- yahoo.com/news/man-gets-15-years-stealing-023431410.html
- WFSU News: Florida leaders are warning of an increase in property fraud (October 2024) -- news.wfsu.org/state-news/2024-10-24/florida-leaders-are-warning-of-an-increase-in-property-fraud
- Bay News 9: Woman accused of stealing houses in Hillsborough County pleads guilty (January 2025) -- baynews9.com/fl/tampa/news/2025/01/27/woman-accused-of-stealing-houses-in-hillsborough-county-pleads-guilty
Disclosure: Title Barrier is a property protection service. This article covers a real case prosecuted by the Hillsborough County State Attorney's Office. All facts are sourced from official press releases, court documents, and reporting by FOX 13, WFLA, WFSU, and Bay News 9.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a quitclaim deed and how is it used to steal homes?
A quitclaim deed is a legal document that transfers whatever ownership interest one person has in a property to another person. Unlike a warranty deed, it makes no guarantees about the validity of that ownership. In Florida, filing a quitclaim deed costs as little as 70 cents and requires only a notary and two witness signatures. Criminals exploit this by forging the property owner's signature, filing the deed with the county clerk, and then attempting to sell the property or take out loans against it before the real owner discovers the fraud.
Why are properties in probate especially vulnerable to deed fraud?
When a homeowner dies, their property often sits in a vulnerable window before the estate is formally settled through probate. During this period, no one may be actively monitoring county filings. Scammers search obituaries and public records to identify recently deceased property owners, then forge documents to transfer the property to themselves. In Florida, the county clerk's office records deeds ministerially and cannot investigate whether a filing is legitimate before recording it.
What happened in the Tampa quitclaim deed fraud case?
Victor Rodriguez (50) and his wife Michelle Cherry (33) forged quitclaim deeds on at least three homes in Hillsborough County in early 2024. One victim was Rodriguez's own deceased ex-father-in-law, whose property titles were changed after his death. They also stole the home of Larry and Dreama Bilby while it was under renovation. Both were arrested in March 2024, convicted, and sentenced to 15 years in prison each.
How did the Bilby family catch the fraud?
The Bilbys had installed security cameras on their home during renovations and noticed strangers on the footage. On February 14, 2024, the same day Cherry filed the forged deed, the Bilbys signed up for Hillsborough County's free Property Fraud Alert system. Within 48 hours, they received notification that their deed had been changed. They immediately went to the clerk's office and filed a criminal report. Larry Bilby also placed a $500,000 lien on his own property to prevent the thieves from reselling it.
How long does it take to recover a stolen property in Florida?
Even after the Bilby family caught the fraud within 48 hours and had the perpetrators arrested, it took approximately 18 months of legal proceedings before their property was returned by court order. Dreama Bilby described the experience as a nightmare that took years off her life. Florida's quitclaim deed fraud recovery process typically requires filing criminal charges, pursuing civil court proceedings, and waiting for the fraudulent deeds to be stricken from the public record.
Continue Reading
The Graceland Heist: How a Convicted Fraudster Nearly Stole Elvis Presley's Home
In 2024, a Missouri woman forged documents claiming Elvis Presley's estate owed $3.8 million and tried to auction off Graceland. Here's how the scheme worked, how it was stopped, and what it reveals about property deed fraud in America.
Sold Without Their Knowledge: How a New Jersey Property Was Stolen in 2023
A couple from Texas had their vacant New Jersey land sold for $140,000 by a stranger they'd never met. Here's exactly how the fraud happened, why nobody caught it, and what property owners can learn from it.
Home Title Theft Explained: FBI & ALTA Data (2026)
Home title theft explained with verified FBI and ALTA data. Learn how deed fraud happens, who's most at risk, real warning signs, and proven ways to protect your property in 2026.