HOUSTON – A five-acre piece of property in northeast Houston that once belonged to a Houston surrogacy company is now owned by a trust that will one day be able to repay families who accuse the company of fraud, according to records.
BACKGROUND: ‘Incredibly evil’: Lawsuit alleges Houston company stole money from intended parents meant for surrogates
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Helen Yancy, the woman who owned the property on paper and appeared to post it for sale in Facebook groups in July, has now been dismissed from a lawsuit, according to records.
The development comes after Harris County Real Property records showed a series of deed transfers since Surrogacy Escrow Account Management or SEAM, owned by Dominique Side, suddenly collapsed in June.
KPRC 2 has obtained a copy of the latest deed filed Thursday that conveys the five-acre tract to a SEAM trust account, managed by Houston attorneys who have sued SEAM on behalf of intended parents around the world.
In June, when SEAM shut down, the deed got transferred out of SEAM and Side’s name into her business partner Anthony Hall’s name.
Then in July, the deed got transferred again, records show, from Hall to Helen Yancy.
In a phone call with KPRC 2′s Bryce Newberry, Yancy said the property transfer was payment for her consulting services to SEAM, Side, and Hall, in which she said she got them millions of dollars in loans.
But Hall and his attorney claimed that the July deed transfer was “forged” and that Yancy “traced” his signature. Yancy disputes that.
Regardless, KPRC 2 has learned Yancy met with attorneys last Thursday to transfer the deed to them for the trust account.
Houston attorneys Marianne Robak and Lori Hood, who represent about three dozen families from around the world, are now planning to work with a realtor to get the property appraised and sold. The proceeds will eventually be distributed among the intended parents who are part of the lawsuit.
“This is a positive step forward in our clients’ recovery. We appreciate Ms. Yancy’s candor and her determination to right the wrongs of others,” said Marianne Robak of Shackelford, McKinley & Norton, LLP in a statement to KPRC 2.
Yancy has not responded to KPRC 2′s request for comment.
It’s not clear when the intended parents as part of the lawsuit could see any of the proceeds. According to court filings, the property has appraised around $575,000.
Additional deed transfers to Yancy uncovered
As part of the deed transfers connected to the surrogacy company, court records revealed deeds to three other properties transferred into Yancy’s name in March.
After KPRC 2 contacted those homeowners, they said they had not signed any deed paperwork and didn’t know Yancy.
When KPRC 2 ran the story about the deeds, Robak said she asked the alleged victims for permission to try to get their properties back.
“The next morning (after the story aired), I emailed Helen Yancy because I had her email address from her filings (in the lawsuit) and asked her if she was willing to re-convey those properties back to the homeowners, and she responded and agreed,” Robak said.
Hood drafted the documents to be sent to Yancy and they received the signed and notarized documents back from her.
“This was something that I wanted to do for these homeowners, because I saw their interview with you and just felt compelled to help them,” Robak said. “I don’t know her motives or if she did it at all. I do know that I asked if she was willing to re-convey them back, and she jumped at the opportunity.”
KPRC 2 joined two of the alleged victims as they filed their new deeds at the Harris County Clerk’s Office, which were officially put back into their names in August.
The homeowners told KPRC 2 they reported the alleged deed fraud to law enforcement but so far no charges have been filed.