this is a long read and i apologize.  but this story is complete with criminal elements and creative resolve.  please offer assistance.

i want to purchase a vacant property in philadelphia to expand my business.  right now, my business is located next to the vacant property.  the property has been vacant for 8 years.  the vacant property is in bad shape.  the vacant property has back taxes.  the vacant property owner is long gone, until 3 months ago.

i found him and asked if he wanted to sell.  he said sure.  we worked out numbers and we agreed on a deal.  i told him i would give him X amount of dollars and i would assume all the debt attached to the property etc.  he was fine with that.  i told the owner i will run title and get back to him when the title search comes back.  the title came back.  

apparently, the house was sold one month ago.  the title company sent me a digitized deed that shows the property owner (who i have been negotiating with) signing over the property to a woman for 7k.  i told the property owner and he said he has never sold the house, he has never met the woman and he sure as hell hasnt received 7k.  the deed was recorded in philadelphia at the recorder of deeds and notarized by a local notary.

in philadelphia, the recorder of deeds records a deed in recordable form. Poof you just got your house stolen! you can have a paper typed up and notarized on the top of a used washer and dryer and the city will record the deed and its up to the correct property owner to prove that he did not sell the house!  how the F*** is that??  

the property owner and i are both stunned.  we have been having several discussions on how to resolve this.  the property owner has contacted the philadelphia sheriff and the District Attorney.  in order to resolve this, it seems you need to file a motion to quiet title. the motion will go in front of a judge and probably go to trial, even if its not contestable.  the judge would want us to prove how the transaction is fraudulent.  for starters, one of the signatures dated 12-14 if from a man who passed away in 2012 (the property owners brother).  second, the notary who notarized this deed, who i confronted denied notarizing the deed and says its a fraud stamp.  point being, if we present our case to a judge im sure it will be easy for us to prove it was fraud, but it will take over a year and maybe close to 3-5k just to go through the courts. 

my point with this rant, is to try to come up with a plan to get this woman to sign the property back over to the correct property owner without going to court.  the lawyers said, this deed conveyance was done out of court and it can be reversed out of court, as long as you can get the woman to sign it back over.  

now it gets funny, i received a phone call from this woman three days ago.  rememeber my business is next door.  she called me and asked me if i wanted to buy the vacant property.  she claims she bought the house from the owner three months back and they went to a lawyers office in downtown phila to do the transaction.  she has no idea that i am like months and months into this property and i already ran title a while ago that shows a signature from a dead guy and signed by a notary who denies signing it and she has no idea that i have been speaking to the REAL property owner for months.  i  played dumb like "Yea sure im interested, can i come and see the house?"  she invited me over and the house def looked like it has been vacant for 8 years.  trash and demo and no electricity and no sinks and pipes everywhere etc. i recorded the conversation.  she wants 50k for the house she stole.

i recorded the conversation.  i have her name and number and she is expecting me to call her shortly.  she claims to have other people interested which i doubt.

if i tell her in my next visit that i know she has stolen the property and she better sign it back or risk going to jail, she will vanish back into the streets and never come to philly and the house will drift back into the worm hole that philadelphia is known for.  i need to get her to sign this house back to the real property owner voluntarily but i need it all done at the same time so she cant run away.  im thinking of getting cops and lawyers and confront her like ummmm sign this document and we will all walk away without incident or you will have the district attorney issuing a warrant for your arrest if you dont cooperate.  

the house is important to me.  its worth it.  its my business's future.  

thoughts?  i will exchange my number in a private message to somebody that can offer assistance.  thanks for the read!