$60,000 in back taxes, a signature, and a house sold within a month
Joseph Goodnough, 42, of Rensselaer County, New York, was sentenced in October 2025 after deceiving an elderly Schoharie County homeowner — who had fallen more than $60,000 behind on his property taxes — into signing a deed transfer during a confusing paper-shuffling signing, on a promise to manage the taxes and eventually buy the home himself. Goodnough instead sold the property for $142,500 within a month, pocketing more than $75,000, while the original owner kept living in the house until the new buyers discovered him there.
- Year
- 2025
- Where
- United States
- Outcome
- Sentenced
- Reported loss
- $142,500
- Victims
- 2
- Schemes
- Home title fraud
- Last reviewed
- 2026-09-11
The facts, as recorded
- Joseph Goodnough, 42, of Rensselaer County, New York, pleaded to Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, a Class C felony.
- The victim was an elderly Schoharie County homeowner who had fallen more than $60,000 behind on his property taxes.
- Goodnough deceived the homeowner during the signing itself — described as 'shuffling paperwork' — into signing a deed transfer he was told was something else, on a promise Goodnough would manage the back taxes and later buy the property from him.
- Goodnough resold the property for $142,500 within less than a month, pocketing more than $75,000 in the process.
- The fraud surfaced when the new buyers arrived at the property and found the original elderly owner still living there; Goodnough had also shut off the utilities and attempted to have the original owner removed.
- Judge Matthew J. Sypniewski sentenced Goodnough to 12 weekends in jail and 5 years of probation; a violation of the restitution schedule carries a 5-to-15-year prison exposure.
- Goodnough has paid $10,000 each toward restitution owed to the two victims: the original homeowner and the buyer who was resold a property with a clouded title.
- Schoharie County District Attorney Carney: "people should beware of signing documents pertaining to real estate without legal representation."
- The case was investigated by the Cobleskill Police Department and the New York State Police.
Why this case matters
Every other case on this page involves a deed forged without the true owner ever signing anything. This one shows the other route into the same crime: a real signature, obtained through deception about what was actually being signed — during, in the DA’s own description, a “shuffling” of paperwork. The legal effect on the property record is the same either way.
Speed as the whole strategy
Less than a month passed between the deed transfer and the resale. That gap is the entire plan: get the property back onto the market and into a new buyer’s hands before the original owner realises what the paperwork he signed actually did, or before anyone else notices the deed at the county clerk’s office.
Two victims, not one
The buyer who paid $142,500 is as much a victim as the original homeowner — they paid market rate for a title that turned out to be worthless the moment the fraud surfaced, which is why the court ordered restitution to both.
The caveat
Goodnough has been sentenced; this is a concluded criminal case. Restitution was, as of this page’s last review, still being paid on a schedule rather than paid in full.
Sources
- Man sentenced for deed theft scheme that defrauded elderly homeowner. CBS6 Albany (WRGB). Accessed 2026-09-11. Supports: Goodnough's name, age and location, the charge, the elderly victim and his $60,000+ in back taxes, the deceptive signing, the $142,500 resale and $75,000+ profit within a month, the utility shut-off and removal attempt, the sentence, the restitution to two victims, and the Carney quote.