Fraudsters try to steal an owner's home

fairy_lights

Even if the person who bought the house at auction did become the legal owner, wouldn't the fact that it was done fraudulently invalidate the sale?
I wonder if this scam could be done in reverse - the homeowner works in league with the scammers, auctions the house, then claims that it was all done by scammers so gets to keep their house as well as splitting the auction fees with the scammers (who have legged it to south America).

DigForVictory

It's this sort of thing that has me keeping a digital mitt extended over my parents, sisters & a godparent via the Land Registry & I wish I could reach Scotland!

vw100

There is a form from the land registry website - which can be filled in, there is a small fee to pay if you live at the property. This is especially important for vacant and mortgage free properties as it makes it easier for crooks to carry out fraud. The will put a restriction on the register


Put a restriction on your title

You can stop Land Registry registering a sale or mortgage on your property unless a conveyancer or solicitor certifies the application was made by you.
Business owners

Fill in a request for a restriction if you’re a company owning property.
Send your application to the address on the form - there’s no fee.
If you don’t live at the property

Fill in a request for a restriction for owners not living at the property if you own the property privately - there’s no fee.
If you live at the property

Fill in an application for a restriction. It costs £40.
Send completed forms to the Land Registry Citizen Centre.
Land Registry
Citizen Centre
PO Box 74
Gloucester
GL14 9BB



Land Registry will tell you when they add the restriction.

martindow

On You and Yours on Radio 4 yesterday they talked about this. There was a large sum mentioned paid out by the Land Registry presumably to compensate people who have paid money relying on fraudulently changed information on ownership given by LR.

http://blog.landregistry.gov.uk/property-fraud-all-you-need-to-know/

lcfcstephen

I can't monitor my property - it comes up, but doesn't allow me to monitor (I can monitor my parents house however) I'm presuming this must mean their systems are updating for this - sent an email for clarification

davidmcn

fairy_lights wrote: »

Even if the person who bought the house at auction did become the legal owner, wouldn't the fact that it was done fraudulently invalidate the sale?

Not as far as the Land Registry is concerned - the point about land registers is that everyone is entitled to rely on them rather than having to look behind the information, so someone buying in good faith from the fraudsters will get a good title, while the "real" owner can only claim compensation from the registers rather than get their house back.

I wonder if this scam could be done in reverse - the homeowner works in league with the scammers, auctions the house, then claims that it was all done by scammers so gets to keep their house as well as splitting the auction fees with the scammers (who have legged it to south America).

I expect the police and the registers look at this sort of thing carefully.

gettingtheresometime

As a result of this thread, and trying to register my mum's house, it has turned out that her house isn't registered (bought in the 1960s mortgage free)


Should I get her to register it and how do I start that conversation with her without frightening her to death????

AnotherJoe

vw100 wrote: »

There is a form from the land registry website - which can be filled in, there is a small fee to pay if you live at the property. This is especially important for vacant and mortgage free properties as it makes it easier for crooks to carry out fraud. The will put a restriction on the register


Put a restriction on your title

You can stop Land Registry registering a sale or mortgage on your property unless a conveyancer or solicitor certifies the application was made by you.
Business owners

Fill in a request for a restriction if you’re a company owning property.
Send your application to the address on the form - there’s no fee.
If you don’t live at the property

Fill in a request for a restriction for owners not living at the property if you own the property privately - there’s no fee.
If you live at the property

Fill in an application for a restriction. It costs £40.
Send completed forms to the Land Registry Citizen Centre.
Land Registry
Citizen Centre
PO Box 74
Gloucester
GL14 9BB

Land Registry will tell you when they add the restriction.

Its outrageous there's no fee if you dont live at the property but there is if you do !
Whats the thinking behind this?

moneyistooshorttomention

This looks even more unclear to me.

Latest posts (ie post 27) are leading me to think that wrongful buyer would get rightful owner's house and all they could do was sue the Land Registry for compensation?

In other words choice between:
- time/money/worry suing the LR and where would one live meanwhile

and

- trying to restrain yourself from arson on your own home because it was no longer deemed to be your own home and you couldnt stand the thought of a squatter sitting there (perfectly legally) in your own home and were going to make sure that that at least couldnt happen? (only applicable to those with detached houses - so no innocent person got involved in that obviously....).

I think I'd rather be had up for assault than arson personally:cool:

Just as well that I set that monitoring up on my account personally - or I would be at real risk of committing arson personally.

[Deleted User]

martindow wrote: »

On You and Yours on Radio 4 yesterday they talked about this. There was a large sum mentioned paid out by the Land Registry presumably to compensate people who have paid money relying on fraudulently changed information on ownership given by LR.

http://blog.landregistry.gov.uk/property-fraud-all-you-need-to-know/

Yes, I heard this too and was HORRIFIED. The particular case they highlighted came about because the owner had an insecure postbox and the thieves managed to steal his utility bills, bank statements, etc. and actually OPEN a bank account in his name, get hold of a false passport, driver's licence, etc. And then used those to persuade the Land Registry that they were the owners and these were their new contact details (!) The property was about to go to auction and was only 3 days away from being sold when the owner's daughter spotted it on a website.

Properties that are vulnerable are particularly those where there is no mortgage, they're not registered with the Land Registry, or the owners don't live in them.

Bearing this in mind, would the regular Alert System that the Land Registry offers work here (or would they just be using the "new" contact details?) Not sure.

Personally, I found the whole thing very scary.