Stephentown, N.Y. (WNYT) – John Donnelly of Stephentown lives with his brother, Richard. They were behind on their taxes.

He says a man came knocking on the door, wanting to make an offer on the house.

“So he bugged me almost daily on the phone until my brother got back from the hospital,” he said.

After a time, they agreed on an offer and had to sign some papers.

“At the time he kept on going back and forth, crumpling paper, and throwing it in the garbage and go back and forth to his car and come in with a new one, so I think he was doing a little flim-flam action there, too,” he said.

Then, Donnelly said, that man, Joseph Goodnough, drove off.

“So we never got a copy of what Richard just signed. We never got to pre-read it or anything. And off he went,” he said. “And that’s how it all started. He’s a pretty good salesman.”

Donnelly said it wasn’t long before Goodnough demanded they move immediately.

He said he never got a dime.

John is fortunate to have very good friends who look out for him, but the stress still took a toll.

“Tough time, very emotional, yes. I couldn’t sleep,” he said. “All I thought about the whole time was what are we going to do? I have to take care of my brother. Where are we going? I never thought, I’d ever dream of being homeless, perhaps.”

But Donnelly got in touch with attorney James Sottile, who had taken Goodnough to court in another case.

Sottile believes Donnelly’s address may have been targeted because it was on a county foreclosure list.

“And I took the same list and started visiting people to see if they were visited by Goodnough. I found two other cases in which he was,” said Sottile.

Sottile took Goodnough to court again.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better lawyer, I don’t care if I looked through a hundred,” said Donnelly. “I got lucky when i found him.”

“My value system just says you have to watch out, help the little guy. I just can’t live in a society where we allow this to happen,” said Sottile.

In his decision, Judge Peter Lynch said Donnelly was fraudulently induced to sign the deed, but then Goodnough failed to pay any money and did not pay off any outstanding taxes.

“Judge Lynch, God Bless him too. He’s a very sharp judge!” said Donnelly.

According to the Home Equity Theft Prevention Act, people facing foreclosure can be especially vulnerable to aggressive “equity purchasers” who get them to sell their home for a fraction of what they’re worth or even to sign them away.

The court found that Goodnough’s conduct shows a pattern of preying upon the elderly and vulnerable, calling him a scourge to society, and citing another case in Schoharie County.

That’s David White of Cobleskill, as we first reported earlier this week. Sottile is fighting for him to stay in the house where he grew up.

“Because it said that I transferred, or I sold the house to Mr. Goodnough for $25,000,” said White, adding that he never got any money.

This month, in connection with that case, state police arrested Joseph Michael Goodnough and charged him with grand larceny.

Deed theft is a growing problem and it’s fueled by limited housing supply and rising home values.

Some counties offer online fraud alerts when a document is recorded in your name, but by then, it may already be too late.

There is a positive outcome for Donnelly. He was awarded punitive damages. The new deed is void, and he and his brother are staying put.

“Don’t sign anything without talking to your attorney or an attorney. Get some advice. Talk to your friends,” he said.

He is grateful to his attorney for fighting hard when things looked bleak.

“It’s a victory for everyone,” said Sottile. “It’s a victory for the community. It’s a victory for Stephentown. It’s a victory for the state of New York. It’s not a victory for me, it’s a victory for society as a whole. We’re righting wrongs here, that’s what we’re doing.”