Alasdair Lewis, director of legal services at the Land Registry explained that the award winning product was introduced to help people to protect their most valuable asset, their home.
‘We’re glad that Property Alert has proved so popular. However, there are still many home owners who are unaware of the risk of property fraud and how to protect themselves so we are asking people to share our advice and video with their friends and family to spread the word,’ he said.
An example of how it can help involved a man who rented out his property using letting agents while he lived overseas. His letting agents were approached by someone claiming to have bought the property. This was a surprise to them, so they contacted Mr Q who then contacted the Land Registry’s property fraud line.
Upon investigation, it was found that an application to transfer Mr Q’s property into the name of a buyer had been received. A staff member also spotted discrepancies between Mr Q’s signature and previously scanned documents. A letter was sent to the buyer’s solicitor requesting confirmation of the steps taken to verify Mr Q’s identity.
Mr Q’s solicitor also contacted the Land Registry to confirm that he had known the family for over 20 years and that Mr Q had not sold his property. He referred the matter to the police on Mr Q’s behalf.
As the Land Registry had not received sufficient evidence from the buyer’s solicitor in respect of the signature verification for Mr Q, the transfer application was cancelled and the sale wasn’t registered.
If Mr Q had signed up for Property Alert he would have received an email alert when the Land Registry had first received notification that a transfer of ownership would be arriving. He could then have looked into the matter sooner.
Lewis explained that property fraud can happen in many ways. For example, fraudsters may steal someone’s identity and attempt to acquire ownership of a property by using forged documents. The fraudsters may then raise money by mortgaging the property without the owner’s knowledge before disappearing with the money, leaving the owner to deal with the consequences.
The Land Registry has stopped fraud on properties worth more than £66 million in the last five years. In a recent case, two fraudsters managed to pocket £50,000 by selling an empty home they didn’t own. Staff at the Land Registry spotted the fraud before it was registered but the fraudsters got away with the money and are still wanted by the police.
Those wishing to use the service need to set up an online account with the Land Registry which is free. Each individual can monitor up to 10 properties. Email alerts will be sent when the Land Registry receives an application to change the register as well as for official searches which can be sent to us up to 30 working days before the application is sent and ‘freeze’ the register until the application is received. You can then judge whether or not the activity is suspicious and if you should seek further advice.
For example, if you receive an alert that a bank has lodged a search on your property but you haven’t applied for a mortgage, you may want to seek legal advice, contact Action Fraud, or contact the bank in question to tell them you are the owner and have not applied for a mortgage. Investigations into the authenticity of the mortgage application can then begin.
Some properties are more likely to be at risk of fraud than others. These include tenanted properties. For example where the landlord lives elsewhere, a tenant might try to mortgage or sell the property without the landlord’s knowledge.
Also at risk are empty properties such as where the owner lives abroad or is in a care home or where there are family disputes. For example, in a relationship break down someone could try and mortgage a property without their partner knowing.
Other measures to help protect yourself against property fraud include making sure your property is registered. If you become an innocent victim of fraud and suffer financial loss as a consequence, you may be compensated.
Once registered, ensure the Land Registry has up to date contact details you can be reached easily. You can have up to three addresses in the register including an email address and/or an address abroad.
‘The more information you provide, the more chance we have of reaching you if we need to,’ said Lewis. He added that owners can make a request to have a restriction entered on their property. ‘This is designed to help prevent forgery by requiring a solicitor or conveyancer to certify they are satisfied that the person selling or mortgaging the property is the true owner,’ he pointed out.
