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Notary botches deed to home, puts wrong name on document

Rodriques Best has owned the home for five years. However, after the mix-up, his name was not on the deed.

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Rodriques Best found the Greensboro home about five years ago. Back then he was married, and the house was perfect for him and his wife.

“We loved the home. It was great,” Best said.

Now divorced, the home, like several items, was part of the divorce settlement. His ex-wife agreed to give the home to Best.

“She basically signed the house over to me. We are not on bad terms,” Best said.

A notary was hired to help with a quit claim deed to put the home in Best’s name. Best and his ex-wife met the notary and signed the paperwork and the notary filed it with the state.

“It was pretty simple,” Best said.

A couple of years later, after a bad storm, Best had to reach out to his insurance company to have some repairs done on the house. Hail had damaged the roof and Best needed a roofer to come out and make the necessary repairs.

His insurance company would cover the cost and send a check for the repairs. This is when Best realized there was a bigger problem.

“The checks were made out to her (ex-wife),” Best said.

He contacted the insurance company that told him he needed to send them the deed on the house showing he was the sole owner, and the checks would be re-issued.

Best sent the deed to the insurance company. A few days later he received a call alerting him that his name was not on the deed.

“She (notary) drew up the documents and she put somebody’s name on the document,” Best. said.

The notary mistakenly put a different name on the deed and not Best’s. He reached out to the notary who didn’t seem too quick to help. The mix-up was in part due to the fact that Best is blind and could not read the deed. He trusted the notary put the proper names on the document.

“She didn’t seem to care that much,” Best said. “She told me she would look into it later but she was really busy.”

Best needed the issue resolved right away, so he contacted News 2. We immediately contacted the notary and an attorney to see what could be done. The process was not that complicated but did involve filing some additional paperwork.

A new deed was drafted and filed with the Register of Deeds Office. The notary who messed up the first time did agree to meet with Rodriques to help resolve the issue.

A few days later, the new deed was drawn up by an attorney, and Rodriques and his ex-wife signed it. The home was now officially in Best’s name.

“Thank you so much,” Best said.

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