HOUSTON – A home can represent decades of work. It can provide stability, hold a family’s memories and become something parents and grandparents hope to pass down.
For Keata Wade’s family, that home sits on Teton Street. Her grandmother bought it intending for it to remain in the family. She lived there until she died, and Wade’s father continued living there until his death.
Now, people the family does not know are living inside it.
“I’m here because me and our family had our family home stolen out from under us by someone we have never met,” Wade said.
Wade said her family learned about the alleged fraud after the Harris County Attorney’s Office contacted them earlier this year.
“Earlier this year, we were contacted by an attorney in this office who informed us that they were investigating fraud that included the home of my grandmother who has been deceased for several years,” Wade…
Insurance fraud involves making false or exaggerated claims to an insurance provider.
- Hard Fraud: Someone deliberately causes a loss (e.g., setting fire to a warehouse or staging a car accident) specifically to collect a payout.
- Soft Fraud: More common and often viewed as “victimless” by the perpetrator. It involves exaggerating a legitimate claim, such as overstating the value of stolen items in a home burglary to cover the deductible.