TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A woman said she took matters into her own hands to get the deed to her mother’s house back.

Avia Dewar lost her mother Avis in April 2021. Deward spoke to 8 On Your Side from the house she said she saw her mother build. There wasn’t a mortgage on the house, so Dewar went to a title company to get the deed.

“They were doing the deed, and they were like, ‘We can’t deed this over to you because your mom doesn’t even own it,'” Dewar said.

She said the title company sent her a quitclaim deed that signed over the home for $100 to a company called America Resource Group. The date of indenture was Dec. 19, 2020. The document wasn’t filed with the clerk’s office until Oct. 17, 2022.

Dewar said the signature on the quitclaim deed is not her mother’s signature. She also noticed how Aura Mendez, the company owner, signed off as the notary, which is not allowed.

Dewar saw an active case claiming fraud against American Resource Group and reached out to them directly.

“I’m not trying to go through court cases and court cases. I didn’t know how long it would be or how dragged out it would be. I’m like just sign this and we can go our separate ways,” Dewar said. “I just kept telling them like my mom worked really hard for her stuff, like I saw my mom, I’m not asking you, I saw her work extremely hard for her stuff. And I’m like I don’t want to have to do that, but if I need to do it, like I will do what I need to do.”

She was able to meet with Mendez in person and get her to sign her mother’s house back. Dewar said had she stayed in a dark place, grieving her mother and how she could’ve lost the house.

“My mom passed from a stroke, so she didn’t even get to enjoy the fruit of her labor. Then to see someone else come in and kind of swoop in, it was like nah, this is not going to happen,” Dewar said.

While there could be more verification by officials, Dewar said her main advice is for people to have integrity, and to check on your properties.

“You have to do what you have to do to protect yourself. Because it’s not someone coming to break in your house, but they definitely can take your home,” Dewar said.

News Channel 8 On Your Side found 14 filings involving American Resource Group. In all of them, Mendez either signed off as the notary or the witness in the transaction is not allowed.

We are working to get officials to make changes in the process of accepting quitclaim deeds.