With many wondering whether the Chargers are leaving Qualcomm Stadium for Los Angeles, San Diego’s other major sports venue — Petco Park — has become the subject of a bizarre ownership controversy sparked by a mentally ill man who filed a simple document.

Derris Devon McQuaig took legal title to the downtown ballpark away from the city and the Padres two years ago by walking into the San Diego County Recorder’s Officer and submitting a properly filled-out deed transfer.

Seriously.

County and city officials have been quietly trying to remedy the situation ever since, but a felony fraud case against McQuaig was dismissed last week after a judge ruled he’s not mentally competent to be prosecuted.


Because no actual sale or transaction took place, government officials and real estate experts say there’s essentially no chance of McQuaig taking control of the property, which was recently appraised at $539 million and is slated to host its first All-Star game in July.

But McQuaig has created a legal and bureaucratic nightmare that could be perpetrated on any property owner if someone decides to target them by casting doubt on their title in this way.

Jeff Olson, chief of assessment services for the San Diego County Assessor’s Office, said county officials are required to record all properly submitted documents and make them part of the public record even when they are obviously bogus.

“I don’t think in any way it would be deemed credible because it’s pretty clearly just a ‘wild deed’ that has no legal sufficiency,” Olson said. “But it could cause headaches for someone down the road.”


Those headaches, which some compare to being the victim of identity theft, include hassles and delays in trying to sell or refinance property.

“If the report shows that this goofball over here put his name on your property, the bank is not going to lend you money,” said Tracy Leonard of Lawyers Title Insurance in Mission Valley. “It’s still your property, but you have to clean up the mess that somebody else made.”

However, the city’s contentions that the bureaucratic mess won’t have a significant impact were supported recently when a refinancing of $125 million in Petco Park debt was approved.

So-called “wild deeds” often go undetected until a property owner tries to sell or refinance.


But Olson said county officials were immediately aware that McQuaig’s deed transfer was bogus, primarily because he spent many hours in the County Recorder’s Office beforehand doing research and asking questions about the process.

So county officials quickly alerted the District Attorney’s Office, prompting a criminal case against McQuaig which, if successful, would have voided his title and wiped it from the public record.

Steve Spinella, the deputy district attorney who prosecuted the case, said his goals included seeking punishment for a clear case of fraud and rectifying the situation for the city and the Padres.

“It was a totally erroneous transferring of property,” he said.


Psychiatric examination by Dr. Michael Takamura, however, determined that McQuaig was not mentally competent and that “there is no substantial likelihood that the defendant will regain mental competence in the foreseeable future.”

That prompted Superior Court Judge Steven Stone to dismiss the criminal case on Dec. 16, order McQuaig committed to Patton State Hospital in San Bernardino County, and give psychiatric security personnel there the authority to administer antipsychotic medication against McQuaig’s will.

Spinella said that decision eliminated any chance of voiding the deed under criminal law.

“The statute is very specific that a conviction is required,” he said. “There’s just no avenue forward. We certainly want to achieve justice for victims, but we can only do so within the confines of our jurisdiction.”


So the City Attorney’s Office has begun exploring a civil remedy, most likely a “quiet title action,” which would nullify the bogus claim and reaffirm the city and the Padres as owners of the ballpark.

Spinella said it seems clear that McQuaig, who was convicted of robbery in Los Angeles County in 1989, had no plans to financially profit from the title transfer.

Denis Lainez, the public defender who represented McQuaig, declined to discuss the details of the case but said he agreed with Spinella that the title transfer wasn’t part of a wider scheme.

Court records show that McQuaig, 46, has struggled with his mental health for many years, including at least one previous stay at Patton State Hospital. In early 2014, the city sought a “stay away order” barring McQuaig from the city’s downtown central library.


Olson, the assessor’s office official, said McQuaig was still capable of properly filling out a deed transfer, including entering the correct parcel and lot numbers for Petco Park and its correct address, 100 Park Blvd.

“As long as he’s crossed his t’s and dotted his i’s and filled in the blanks sufficiently on the grant deed, we’re required to record it,” Olson said. “He had no legal authority to transfer Petco Park to himself, but it becomes part of the public record.”

Leonard, the title company official, agreed.

“It’s not their role to police every transaction,” she said.


Leonard said there’s been talk in Sacramento of state legislation that would make it easier to void fraudulent title transfers, but nothing has come forward yet.

“For now it’s the same as identity theft,” she said. “It causes you nightmares, but you are still you and your property is still yours.”

Padres officials didn’t respond to calls and emails seeking comment.