Harris County judge issues default judgment on 40 properties in case first reported by ABC13

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A Harris County judge has signed a default judgment that will return 40 properties to their original owners, six months after ABC13 broke the story of a Houston woman accused in civil lawsuits of stealing dozens of properties.

The saga involving Alba Martinez and her husband began six months ago. Back in February, artist Mike Scranton wanted to sell a lot he owned for 15 years in Houston's Independence Heights neighborhood. Scranton's realtor, Tracy Brandon, discovered that the lot's deed was in someone else's name and that Scranton no longer owned the land.

After ABC13 first aired Scranton's plight, Martinez contacted Scranton's attorney, Dennis McQueen of Pagel, Davis, & Hill, LLC, and offered to sign the parcel of land back. Our cameras were there when Martinez paid $10,000 in legal fees and signed her property back over to Scranton.

However, McQueen had found 39 other properties with similar problems. His initial investigation led the Harris County Attorney's Office to file a civil lawsuit against Martinez and her husband on all the other properties.

"I've never seen anybody do this many properties with made-up buyers, made-up notaries, made-up sellers," McQueen said. "And this lady was selling to people, real people, taking real money, and leaving them property they didn't own."

McQueen says Martinez did not show up for her recent court hearings, leading the judge in the case to sign a default judgment. As a result, every one of the properties, after some paperwork, should end back in the hands of the people who owned them.

"It was y'all (ABC13) that put this thing together that led the County Attorney to file a lawsuit. But I think it's great that all these people are getting their property back," McQueen said.

Even though Houston police did open an investigation, neither Martinez nor her husband has ever faced criminal charges in these cases. It's unclear at this point if the Harris County District Attorney's Office ever plans to take any of the cases to a grand jury.

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