Door to Land Fraud — and Why Your Property Taxes Might Be Tied to It

If you’ve ever wondered why your tax bill keeps going up, or why land around you seems to disappear into LLCs and off-the-grid surveys… this might explain why.

Back in 1983, a quiet court case in New Hampshire—State v. Sands—changed how land surveying and deed descriptions were handled. That case may seem boring on the surface, but it opened a massive loophole that’s still being exploited today. And if you live on or near old farmland, woods, or large tracts of land, it could be happening right under your feet.

Here’s how the fraud works—step by step, and in plain English.

Step 1: A Loophole is Born

In 1983, State v. Sands set a legal precedent that allowed surveyors to use vague or questionable deed descriptions—and still get them accepted by the courts.

Translation: Surveyors no longer had to match deeds to physical land markers like stone walls, pins, or actual monuments. They could go off old, cherry-picked descriptions.

Step 2: Fake Deeds Are Created

Bad actors took advantage by creating small, altered deeds—claiming little 1–5 acre parcels taken out of big old 500-acre lots. These deeds ignored the bigger picture.

They picked out pieces of land like puzzle pieces—but only showed you one corner, not the full image.

Step 3: Key People Move Onto the Land

To make it look legit, they had trusted people “buy” or live on the land—often staying for 20+ years. This made the public think these were normal, legal properties.

Step 4: They Hide the Real Boundaries

Original markers (stone walls, corner pins, even rivers) were removed, buried, or just ignored. That way, honest surveyors couldn’t retrace the real lines.

Step 5: A Surveyor Draws the Fake Map

Then, a connected surveyor would come in and make a new survey, using just the small fake deed—completely ignoring the surrounding properties or the original 500-acre layout.

Step 6: Neighbors Are Kept in the Dark

These surveys were done quietly, using town loopholes like “minor lot adjustments,” so neighbors (abutters) never got notified. No one knew their land might be overlapped or stolen.

Step 7: The Town Accepts It As Law

With no one to challenge it and a licensed surveyor’s signature, the town records the fake lot as if it’s real. Now it’s on the books, showing up on GIS maps and tax records.

Step 8: It Gets Sold or Logged

Once official, the fake lot is sold, split, logged, or mortgaged—often to LLCs or out-of-state buyers. Timber is taken. Profits are made. Meanwhile, the real landowners may not even know they’ve lost ground.

Step 9: The Original 500-Acre Lot is Buried

Over time, the original big lot disappears from public memory. Town maps are updated to match the fake surveys, and any challenges are brushed off using the Sands ruling.

Step 10: They Do It Again

The same scheme is used over and over again on neighboring lots, with slightly different fake deeds, rotating surveyors, and just enough legal fog to stay under the radar.

Why It Matters to You

• Your taxes may be inflated if you’re being taxed on land someone else has quietly claimed.

• You may be paying for town services on land that’s been transferred off-tax rolls to private LLCs or shell buyers.

• Your property value could be compromised by hidden encroachments or overlapping claims.

• You may think you own a clean title, but it could be clouded by misrepresented boundaries from decades ago.

What You Can Do

If you suspect land near you has changed hands oddly, has no monuments, or is suddenly logged or subdivided:

1. Pull the deed history and compare it to old estate maps.

2. Ask if surrounding surveyors were notified—they’re required to be.

3. File an affidavit or complaint with your town and county.

4. Expose it publicly. These crimes thrive in silence—but once exposed, the system can no longer ignore it.

This isn’t just a legal issue—it’s a tax issue, a property rights issue, and a trust-in-government issue.

If you’ve ever felt like something isn’t adding up with your land, your taxes, or your town’s maps—you’re not crazy. You’re seeing the cracks in a decades-long coverup.

And now that we know, it’s time to bring the truth back to the surface.