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Resident alleges mortgage fraud and misuse of county property at Knox County meeting
Summary
Public commenter Theodore Berry urged the commission to preserve free access to registry-of-deeds records, described spotting multiple apparent mortgage-fraud cases in local deeds records, and called for stronger tracking and collaboration between the deeds office and law enforcement.
Theodore Berry, a Knox County resident, used the public-comment period at the May 13 commission meeting to praise the county’s registry of deeds for allowing residents to print records (up to 500 pages via email) without a paywall and urged commissioners to preserve that access.
Berry told the commission he had reviewed deeds records and "spotted at least five instances of federal mortgage fraud," saying the practices appeared concentrated at a few banks and that some properties showed multiple mortgages. "It just seems like there's a lot of questionable practices related to criminal activity flowing through the registry of deeds office that I don't think anyone's really paying attention to," he said.
He urged greater collaboration between the sheriff’s office, the registry of deeds and federal investigators and suggested an online tracking system to flag questionable mortgage practices. Berry also raised separate concerns about county property accountability, reporting instances of county vehicles and other county property found at private residences in neighboring counties and urging improved monitoring and auditing.
Commissioners acknowledged the concerns and suggested the commission could review contracts and records as a tool for oversight; they also noted limits to the commission’s authority over some issues and said they would follow up on public records and documentation. No formal action or vote was recorded on Berry’s requests during the meeting.
