Fraudsters try to steal an owner's home

AnotherJoe

marksoton wrote: »

Scum.

But i can't see how their plan would ever have come to fruition.

Well their plan is to steal the money from the buyer, rather than steal the OPs house. So it seems very plausible, once the moneys been transferred to their account they'd transfer it via several other accounts in a complex money trail and disappear.

I signed up to this LR service when i paid off my mortgage after being alerted to this service by someone here, thank you whoever you were !

AnotherJoe

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Yep...been signed up with the LR service for a while now on current house.

I duly get an email through at intervals from them - telling me what I wish to hear (ie that there has been no action on my account)

- so you won't be reading any newspaper articles about little white-haired woman standing there blinking innocently at a policeman - whilst a very battered-looking would-be thief is laid out flat on the ground from someone having obviously "taken a swing at them":rotfl:

Except it wouldn't be the would-be thief. It would be someone whose just been defrauded by an actual thief and would likely be suing you for assault.

jimbog

Was just wondering - who would the victim be? The homeowner or the buyer?

If I was to buy a stolen car I lose the car and the money I paid for it - would that not be the case too for the home?

moneyistooshorttomention

Admitted I'm now not very clear as to just who the victim would be?

Would it be a totally innocent home-owner having to "stand guard" on their own property because, somehow, ownership of it had been transferred to a buyer?

Or would the home-owner be perfectly safe in all respects (apart from a possible shouting match on the doorstep with a stranger that believed they now owned your home and was finding the owner was being a bit "forthright" in protecting it - yep...that possible assault:cool:) and the would-be buyer would find they'd paid out a lot of money for something they weren't going to be allowed to get?

So what would the home-owner themselves be at risk of? Would it be:

a. Coming to blows with a stranger on the doorstep that thought they had bought your home. Risk of assault charge. Having to call police to remove that stranger.

OR

b. Home-owner being told to move from their own home. Cue barricading themselves in/articles in local press saying it really was still their home. Followed by subsequent press article if the home-owner did get kicked out of "...and they are now having to live with relatives/have killed themselves/had a heart attack (delete as applicable)".

getmore4less

The land registry records legal ownership the beneficial interest in the property should remain with the original owner.

davidmcn

fun4everyone wrote: »

Any equivalent for Scottish propertys?

An alert system? No, not yet.

moneyistooshorttomention

getmore4less wrote: »

The land registry records legal ownership the beneficial interest in the property should remain with the original owner.

I'm still unclear personally.

Would that mean the rightful owner would retain the "benefit" of living in their own home - but the would-be buyer would be the one that got it when the real owner died (ie rather than it going to those inheriting from the owner).

OR

would the rightful owner be able to carry on exactly as normal - ie owning their property/having the right to sell their property and keep their proceeds/being able to leave it to their heirs BUT there would just be this odd little anomaly that the LR would have the "title" down as belonging to the would-be buyer (ie any sale by the rightful owner would get scuppered anyway - by a stranger apparently having the title of the house and therefore the sale would be lost because of a cautious solicitor advising rightful buyers against it)?

getmore4less

Many don't understand the workings and role of the land registry.

Eg. Contrary to what many believe, you don't need a grant(probate) to change owners or sell when a tenant in common owner dies.
It is possible to do it without the involvement of the administrator.

googler

getmore4less wrote: »

The land registry records legal ownership the beneficial interest in the property should remain with the original owner.

So are you saying that if this transaction completed, the purchaser at auction would legally own the property?

What do you define as the 'beneficial interest', if the purchaser did, in fact, secure legal ownership?

getmore4less

googler wrote: »

So are you saying that if this transaction completed, the purchaser at auction would legally own the property?

What do you define as the 'beneficial interest', if the purchaser did, in fact, secure legal ownership?

The rights they had before the change of legal owner, full control of the use of the property and to receive the proceeds from them selling their beneficial interest.