Last week's decision by the Ontario government to intervene in the case of an innocent homeowner who had her house title stolen represents a calculated risk by the province, which could backfire if the Court of Appeal refuses to overturn one of its own rulings. It may also be too little, too late for the homeowner. Susan Lawrence has owned her century-old Victorian house for the past 30 years. Earlier this year, a very sophisticated identity thief stole the title to her home and mortgaged it to Maple Trust for almost $300,000. Using the name Thomas Wright, the fraudster obtained the mortgage using a bank statement, deposit certificate and letter of employment all of which were in the fake name. The employment letter was verified by a phone call to a fake employer and the lender even obtained a real Dunn and Bradstreet credit report showing that the phony Thomas Wright had established a credit rating.