A person close to my family was facing foreclosure. He contacted me and said, "I want you to have something , I'm going to lose these houses anyway, so why don't I put the money in your bank account, you can buy them through short sale".

What an amazing offer, I of course said, "Yes". Now, as soon as I got my titles for these two houses, immediately, this family friend isn't so friendly, he has been banging on my doors and windows aggressively seeking, even threatening me, to sign these houses to his sisters in a quitclaim deed.

Now a lawyer is contacting me, telling me in writing that I agreed to convey the houses to a third party to the bank account that the money came from. This is not true, I never met this third party.

I knew nothing about this third party, because I only signed the paper and didn't do anything financial. Now I have two deeds and I am being threatened with legal action. I'm more angry than anything because I thought I was doing a favor, and getting a great deal, and now I am being made out to be a liar and thief.

If the family friend had just admitted that he need a person to do paperwork to help him avoid foreclosure I would have avoided the whole situation. Will they be able to take me to court and take these houses from me if it is only my my name on the titles?

Thanks.

You are caught between a rock and a hard place. And you have no one to blame but your greed.

You see you committed fraud. Buying a short sale means the lender is losing money. So, if you don't agree to turn the properties over, you could be prosecuted for fraud.

If nothing financial happened, why are you refusing to do what he says you said you would do? You bought 2 houses with his money, and now you feel you deserve to keep them? I have a feeling your ears didn't hear the whole story when he told it to you.

This is a muddle for us to try to understand, and it sounds like a nightmare for him, but I'm not sure what the nightmare is for you.

Consult with a good attorney before you get yourself in deeper of a mess if you do sign over the homes.

Regardless of how you got to this place, I agree with Twinkiedooter, seek the help of a competent, licensed Real Estate Attorney, immediately before you do anything else.

...
Now a lawyer is contacting me, telling me in writing that I agreed to convey the houses to a third party to the bank account that the money came from. This is not true, I never met this third party.

I knew nothing about this third party, because I only signed the paper and didn't do anything financial. ...

Incorrect. You did something financial. You deposited the money in your bank account, and used it to purchase the houses.

This is clearly fraud on the part of the person who owned the houses. He appears to have set you up as a "strawman" with the intent of defrauding the bank. Your participation in this scheme may have been "innocent", but you are going to appear mighty stupid to not have suspected that something was afoot.

This attorney that contacted you is probably blowing smoke. If the attorney does sue you, he or she surely realizes that the fraudulent scheme will be immediately obvious.


... So, if you don't agree to turn the properties over, you could be prosecuted for fraud.
I disagree. To turn the properties over would be consumating the fraud.



Regardless of how you got to this place, I agree with Twinkiedooter, seek the help of a competent, licensed Real Estate Attorney, immediately before you do anything else.

Agreed. But I don't know of any state that licenses "real estate attorneys" as such. Find an attorney licensed in your state, perhaps someone with experience in real estate matters.

... So, if you don't agree to turn the properties over, you could be prosecuted for fraud.
I disagree. To turn the properties over would be consumating the fraud.

I should have made this clearer. I wasn't advocating turning the properties over, I was detailing the consequences of not doing so.


Regardless of how you got to this place, I agree with Twinkiedooter, seek the help of a competent, licensed Real Estate Attorney, immediately before you do anything else.

I disagree with this. I think the OP needs a CRIMINAL attorney, since the fraud he helped commit is a criminal offense.

Basically, the only way out that I see for the OP is to report this to the police and cooperate with the prosecution of the original owner. Claim that he was just an innocent dupe. I doubt if that will fly very far, but cooperation may get him probation instead of jail time.