Attorney General Letitia James and other local leaders hosted an educational panel regarding theft and foreclosure prevention on Tuesday night.

"If you're served papers, it's important that you get legal representation," said James.

News 12 spoke with one Bed-Stuy native who says her family owned a property on Jefferson Avenue but mistakenly signed her home away in 2019. She says her home was broken into and the new owner allegedly tore her doors down, which prompted her to get law enforcement involved.

“They came back again. He called the police, and he had some paperwork in his hand and he said, ‘I’m the new owner of the property and these are my tenants,’" Carmella Charrington told News 12. "'I need to change the lock’ and I was like we don’t even know who you are, then we went to court and started litigation.”

Legal counselors told residents that scams have become increasingly sophisticated over time. Regardless, people should never sign any paperwork outside a legal office, and never give out personal information despite what they may promise.

"They might send a car to come and pick you up and talk really nice to you about how they’re going to fix everything and put a bunch of papers in front of me to sign and have you sign your deed over," a legal counselor told residents.

Charrington says it is now her mission to help others tell their story, to help prevent this from happening again.

"This is way bigger than just me," she said. "There’s so many people before me and after me so as horrible as it is what they’re doing, if we able to combat that, then they can’t do it. "

The Attorney General's Home Owner Protection Program, otherwise known as HOPP, is a network of 89 housing counseling and legal services dedicated to helping all homeowners. Representatives can connect you with the best help in your neighborhood.