Victim in forgery case speaks out

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - A week after a former real estate broker is charged with 13 felonies, one of her alleged victims is speaking out.

Former Lafayette real estate broker Brenda Hatfield has been charged with 12 counts of forgery and one count of corrupt business influence in Tippecanoe Circuit Court. Court documents said Hatfield had her assistants forge people's signatures on land contracts, so she could obtain tax breaks.

One of those contracts had Chris Mitchell's name on it.

"Violated. I felt like someone had stolen something from me. It's just a very sinking feeling. I wouldn't wish that on anyone," Mitchell said.

He said that was how he felt when he saw his name signed on a land contract - with a signature that clearly wasn't his.

"The signatures didn't lie," he said. "Those weren't our signatures. The reporting officer could even tell. They did a pretty bad job of trying to forge our name."

Mitchell said he was renting the home at 3360 Chaucer Lane in Lafayette from Hatfield, when she approached him about signing a land contract in late 2009.

"I was looking to buy a house, but she already knew that the house we were renting from her was available for sale, and I was not interested in that house," he said.

But a few months later, Mitchell said his co-workers at the Lafayette Street Department started congratulating him on his new home.

"I wasn't aware I purchased a home. I never signed any contracts or anything like that," he said.

Mitchell said as far as he knows, his credit and finances have been unaffected by this forgery, but he said it did interfere with his ability to actually buy a home, since records showed he already owned one. He said he doesn't see how this alleged forgery could have gone unnoticed.

"We would have been due the taxes on the property, and of course any repairs would be on us," Mitchell said.

NewsChannel 18 tried to get in touch with Brenda Hatfield a few times Monday afternoon, to hear her side of the story, but there was no answer at the number listed for Brenda and Greg Hatfield in Lafayette.