KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Prosecutors have charged a man with forgery for trying to steal a south Kansas City house.

Court documents allege 50-year-old Miles W. Thomas filed a fake warranty deed in Jackson County.

The last time FOX4 Problem Solvers met with Thomas, he wasn’t eager to talk. We wanted to ask him about a house on 67th Terrace that he supposedly owned and had rented to a woman.

She paid him nearly $1,000 only to discover he didn’t own the house. She ended up being evicted after the real owner discovered she was living there.

Kansas City police want to put an end to this all too common scam.

For months they’ve been building a case against Thomas. The case that led to these charges began in October 2021. Court documents show a woman called police to report Thomas forged her deceased brother’s name in an effort to take possession of his house.

Court records say when detectives began investigating, they determined the fraudulent deed transferred the house to a company Thomas owned.

They also located surveillance video showing Thomas walking out of the Jackson County Courthouse in Independence within 7 minutes of the time stamp on the deed. Police say Thomas was regularly forging documents there.

Detectives located the person listed as the seller on the deed. Court documents show the man lives in California, hadn’t signed paperwork to sell a house and didn’t know Thomas.

During a police interview, Thomas said he bought the house for $10,000 from a man he met at a bar near 80th and Wornall Road, according to charging documents. The deed shows Thomas paid $10 for the property.

Thomas then denied doing anything illegal because all he wanted was to improve the neighborhood by acquiring rundown properties.

A warrant has now been issued for his arrest. If convicted, Thomas faces up to seven years in prison and a $10,000 fine.