Avoid Felony Charges: Understand Title Fraud Changes
Hey guys, I’m Tulsa felony defense attorney Carl Birkhead. I’m an attorney with Wirth Law Office in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I’ve been practicing criminal law for a little over eight years, and I wanna help you make law easy by talking to you about the crime statutes that are about to be changing come 2026.
This one I’m gonna be talking about specifically deals with registering or filing false titles with the county clerk to try to deprive someone of ownership of property. That’s a lot of fancy words, so I’m gonna try to break that down.
Basically, what that means is, let’s say you know that your buddy Joe owns a piece of land out in Salisaw or somewhere, and you really want that piece of land. So you draft up a deed, you fake Joe’s signature on it, or you put a different signature entirely on it, and you take it, and you try to file it with the county clerks to transfer ownership to you.
The Legal Consequences of Filing False Titles
Guys, that’s definitely a big no-no. What is happening now is the court the law has changed to and doing this is going to be a felony. It breaks down into two ways. If there’s an intent to deceive, that can be a felony that can be up to, I forget, three years in prison, and a fine of up to $5,000.
But if it’s actually to defraud the owner and take the property away from them, it can be up to 10 years and a $5,000 fine. So you’re looking at half a decade to a decade in prison plus the fine.
Protecting Yourself as a Potential Victim
Now, what does this mean for you if you’re the victim of someone who’s trying to fraudulently take your property, or if someone’s trying to just deceive somebody else for the purposes of filing these things?
Well, as the victim, you can go to your county clerk’s office and basically file a notice that it’s been fraudulently transferred, conveyed, or something’s on the chain of title that it shouldn’t be there. That’ll put a stop to it, and it’ll cause an investigation to determine whether or not someone’s trying to mess with your property.
Facing the Charges and Understanding Felony Implications
It’s incredibly important that you know this, both as the potential victim of this crime, but also if, for some reason, you find yourself facing these charges, you absolutely need to understand you’re facing a felony, and it carries prison time.
If you have questions about this, I absolutely wanna talk to you. I’m Oklahoma criminal defense attorney Carl Birkhead. I’m with Wirth Law Office, and I wanna help you make law easy.
Schedule a Low-Cost Initial Strategy Session
Don’t wait to get the legal help you need. Call us at 918-879-1681 for a low-cost initial strategy session. I’m here to make the law easy for you and ensure you’re protected or well-prepared for any legal challenges you might face.
