Phony Deeds

Re “The Smiths Get Their Dream House,” by Robert A. Jones, Sept. 28: Why has no legislator or state agency assumed the task of changing a system where a person can walk into a county recorder-registrar’s office with a phony grant deed and succeed in stealing someone’s house?

I have been reading stories about these unscrupulous home thefts for several years and nothing has changed. The rightful owner-victim has to legally fight to regain his/her own property at great expense, which doesn’t always succeed. How bizarre. I think this is a cause that the legitimate real estate industry should champion since it seems our state government doesn’t care to initiate any remedy.

JAMES F. SHIELDS

Santa Barbara