He Took It All – How One Stranger Snatched a Multi-Million Dollar Mansion Without Anyone Noticing!

In a shocking case of real estate fraud, a North Carolina man is locked in a battle to reclaim ownership of his multimillion-dollar mansion after a stranger fraudulently transferred the deed into her name. Craig Adams, a well-known dentist in Raleigh, now finds himself facing a complex and expensive legal fight to get back the rights to his own home.

Adams, who owns a massive 8,300-square-foot property in a gated North Raleigh community, was blindsided when he discovered that the deed to his house had been transferred to a stranger, Dawn Mangum, without his knowledge or permission. Even more surprising, the property was suddenly listed for sale, with an asking price of $4.25 million.

“I found out that she had filed a false warranty claim deed against this house and basically tried to steal [it],” Adams told ABC 7.

Adams only learned about the fraudulent deed transfer after his homeowner’s association (HOA) reached out, asking if he had sold his house. The HOA became suspicious after Mangum requested gate access to the private community where the mansion is located. Sensing something wasn’t right, Adams investigated and discovered that Mangum had somehow filed official paperwork with the Wake County Register of Deeds, claiming ownership under the “Dawn Mangum Trust.”

What stunned Adams the most was how easily the fraud was carried out. The paperwork Mangum filed was approved and recorded without anyone verifying whether it was legitimate.

“There’s no effort to authenticate the validity of the change of deed. Nobody verifies the notary. Nobody verifies who owns the house that’s trying to be transferred to a different owner,” Adams explained.

Despite showing evidence that the house was legally his—including mortgage and tax documents—county officials told Adams they couldn’t reverse the fraudulent deed. He was advised to hire a private attorney to take the matter to court.

“They say there’s absolutely nothing they can do to reverse this,” Adams said. “Once it’s filed, their only solution is that I have to go hire a private attorney, and the first quote I got was about $8,000 to file a civil suit against this woman.”

North Carolina law doesn’t require county Registers of Deeds to verify the legitimacy of the documents they receive, nor do they check if the notary or the person submitting the paperwork has any legal right to the property. As a result, these offices process thousands of documents daily, only stopping if there’s clear evidence of fraud—which didn’t happen in this case.

“The biggest concern is … we’re so vulnerable!” Adams said. “Anybody, I could go down and put this warranty deed, find out where you live and I could presumably take ownership of your house. It’s that easy.”

Mangum, now listed as the official owner of Adams’ property, claims the whole situation was a misunderstanding. She believed the home was abandoned and in foreclosure, assuming she had the right to claim it. “My thing is not to take anyone’s home but to find abandoned property and restore it,” she reportedly texted.

Although Mangum now says she’s willing to return the house to Adams and fix the paperwork, the legal process remains difficult. Adams must still hire a lawyer and go to court to undo the fraudulent transfer.

As his battle continues, Adams hopes his story will spark changes in North Carolina’s laws to prevent similar scams. He believes stricter checks on deed transfers are necessary to protect homeowners from such schemes in the future.

“The biggest thing that needs to happen is the laws from the state legislature need to come down to the register,” Adams said. There needs to be “a simple set of checks and balances, authenticate the document, authenticate the signature, authenticate who owns the home.”

The Wake County Sheriff’s Department is now investigating the fraud, while the Register of Deeds office has pledged to help as much as they can within the limits of the law. Despite their sympathy for Adams, the office made it clear they are legally required to record any deed that meets basic requirements and cannot remove a document without a court order.

Adams’ ordeal is far from over, but his determination to reclaim his home is pushing him forward, and he’s hopeful that change will come for the better.