A national title insurer is among nine defendants in a Philadelphia lawsuit over a stolen deed and a closing the property owner says it never attended.
The lawsuit, filed June 23, 2026 in federal court in Philadelphia, involves an empty lot at 1701 Montrose Street. Lurube Developers LLC says it has owned the lot since 2002. But according to the complaint, a deed recorded on March 6, 2020 handed the property to a buyer the company says it never approved.
The detail that should grab claims professionals: the complaint alleges that "no member, past or present, of Lurube Developers LLC appeared at closing or authorized the transaction," and that "an impersonator criminally assumed the identity of an authorized member" to get the deal done. The closing also included "falsified mortgage satisfaction and release documents," the filing says, that supposedly erased a mortgage held by Thomas and Constance Clerico - documents the couple says they never signed.
Fidelity National Title Insurance Company is a named defendant. The complaint alleges it "issued title insurance in connection with the fraudulent transaction," and that the proceeds were "transmitted to Fidelity's Raleigh, North Carolina office." The title agency that ran the closing, Surety Title Company, doing business as Surety Abstract Services, is also named.
The filing describes a closing that skipped basic checks. It alleges one person, using what it calls a fictitious company name, "executed signatures at closing" while "no identification was collected" - "in violation of standard title company protocols."
State regulators have already acted, according to the complaint. It says Pennsylvania suspended the notary's commission in December 2023 "for misconduct related to the notarization of the disputed deed," and in January 2024 cited the buyer's realtor "for operating as an unlicensed realtor."
The plaintiffs are suing for fraud, civil conspiracy and violations of the federal RICO law, and want the 2020 deed declared "void ab initio" - void from the start. They are asking for triple damages under RICO, plus punitive damages and legal fees.
For title insurers, the pattern is a familiar nightmare: a deed allegedly recorded by an impersonator, a mortgage release the lienholders call forged, and a closing where ID checks allegedly failed. The complaint also notes an earlier state quiet-title case the plaintiffs filed in September 2020 that was "dismissed for lack of prosecution" in May 2024 - a ruling it says is now on appeal.
None of the allegations has been tested, and no court has ruled.
