A 69-year-old grandmother from Georgia, Sheila Gibson, was left in disbelief when she received an eviction notice for the home she legally owned. What started as a confusing situation soon revealed a startling flaw in Georgia’s property laws—one that nearly cost her the house she had lived in for years.
Gibson, who had been residing in her Sandy Springs home since 2020, discovered an official eviction warning from the Fulton County Marshal’s Department in December 2022. The notice claimed she had unpaid rent and would soon be forced out. But the reality? She never owed rent because she had already purchased the house for $480,000.
What followed was a battle to prove her rightful ownership—and an eye-opening look at how easy it is for fraudsters to manipulate legal documents.
The Bizarre Eviction Scam
Upon investigating, Gibson found that someone had filed eviction paperwork at the Fulton County Clerk’s Office, falsely claiming she was a tenant who hadn’t paid rent. What made the situation worse was that Georgia law does not require clerks to verify IDs when processing property-related documents.
This loophole allowed criminals to exploit the system with ease. In Gibson’s case, an individual named Michael James Bourff posed as the “agent” of her home and submitted a fraudulent eviction request. According to court records, Bourff claimed she owed $12,000 in unpaid rent and that she had ignored previous notices. However, Gibson never received any eviction warning before this.
Shockingly, this wasn’t the first attempt to evict her. Documents revealed that authorities had previously tried to remove her from her own home in October 2022—an incident she had no prior knowledge of.
“Had it not been for that gate, we could have come home, and all our possessions would have been on the street,” Gibson told CBS affiliate WANF in May 2024.
How Could This Happen?
The key issue lies in Georgia’s lax property filing requirements. Under current law, anyone can walk into a clerk’s office, file eviction paperwork, and claim ownership of a property—without showing any proof that they actually own it.
Gibson’s case is just one example of a growing wave of real estate fraud in the Atlanta area. In several other cases, homeowners have been forced to pay rent to fake landlords, while others have almost lost their homes entirely.
“This is crazy,” Gibson said. “Someone can just walk into an office, provide no ID, and no one bothers to check if they even own the home.”
Fraudster Caught – But at What Cost?
Authorities arrested Michael James Bourff and charged him with multiple offenses, including:
✅ Perjury
✅ Forgery
✅ Filing a False Document
Interestingly, Bourff was first arrested on unrelated DUI charges in another county. After his initial arrest, he was transferred to Fulton County Jail, where he later posted bail on January 1, 2025.
Gibson’s case is not an isolated incident. Earlier, an Atlanta man’s vacation home in Charlotte, North Carolina, was fraudulently sold for just $9,000—despite being worth $300,000. The scammers even had a fake deed to make the sale look legitimate.
How Common Is Eviction Fraud in the U.S.?
Evictions are a significant issue in the United States. According to Princeton University’s Eviction Lab, landlords file approximately 3.6 million eviction cases every year.
Here’s what the data says:
📌 7.8 eviction filings per 100 renting households annually
📌 Millions of households face eviction notices yearly
📌 Eviction filings are tracked across 10 states and 36 cities
While many of these cases involve genuine disputes between landlords and tenants, a growing number involve fraudulent filings like Gibson’s.
What Can Homeowners Do to Protect Themselves?
With loopholes still in place, property owners need to be proactive. Experts recommend the following steps to prevent falling victim to real estate fraud:
✅ Regularly check property records: Homeowners should monitor their property deeds through online county databases.
✅ Sign up for fraud alerts: Some counties offer notification systems that alert property owners if any documents are filed in their name.
✅ Secure personal documents: Keep all home purchase documents in a safe location and be cautious about sharing sensitive information.
✅ Verify any eviction or foreclosure notice: If you receive one unexpectedly, contact local authorities immediately to confirm its legitimacy.
Final Thoughts
Gibson’s ordeal exposes a serious flaw in Georgia’s property laws—one that could impact thousands of homeowners. While her case had a resolution, many others have lost their homes due to similar fraudulent activities.
Until state laws are strengthened to require ID verification for filing property-related documents, homeowners remain vulnerable to scams that could leave them homeless overnight.
As the real estate industry grapples with rising fraud cases, experts emphasize the need for stricter regulations and better oversight to protect hardworking homeowners from losing their properties to criminals.
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