Fraudsters try to steal an owner's home

davidmcn

AnotherJoe wrote: »

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

Presumably because there's a significantly higher risk of somebody fraudulently marketing/moving in to your property if you're not there. (I'm not sure why either service ought to be free, though).

[Deleted User]

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.

Thanks for this. I've had a look at the forms and I'm still not clear about whether or not it's a good idea to get a Conveyancer to do it in the first place, rather than do it yourself, so that they (or someone at the same firm), will be the one who has to say you are who you say you are.

Otherwise, surely, the thief, who has stolen your identity (and has the forged documents to support it) could just go into any solicitor and hand over the identification and ask for a letter confirming they are who they say they are?

I know that doing it yourself will save money, but I'm not entirely clear whether this would be the safest approach?

Davesnave

Corona wrote: »

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.

Where's the Land Registry Rep, I wonder?

zagubov

As I've said elsewhere, how many people who'd spent their life's work to pay off their mortgage would leave much of their house left for someone else to take possession of by fraud?

If I'd bought the guy's house from fraudsters and turned up to take possession, I'd be surprised to find as much as two bricks stuck standing together.

moneyistooshorttomention

Davesnave wrote: »

Where's the Land Registry Rep, I wonder?

I'd been wondering that.

I'd hazard a guess they've been told not to reply on this thread - because it's the Land Registry ultimately by the look of it that has to "carry the can" if a fraudster manages to sell a house to an unwitting buyer (that compensation the LR has to pay the real home-owner).

.....that's apart from those of us that have dismantled our home brick by brick, set fire to it or whatever else we might do in temper if someone tried to nick our home off us:cool:

bouicca21

I'm a bit confused. I am signed up to the alert. Should I also sign up to the restriction (but if savvy fraudsters can steal my identity, can they not also fool a solicitor/conveyancer?)

DaftyDuck

Davesnave wrote: »

Where's the Land Registry Rep, I wonder?

He's been nicked by the Environment Agency, and will now advise on flood risk. He doesn't know it yet but, come Monday...

Houses are not unique in this respect. They may represent our largest asset, but they are not that vulnerable, and never will be.

You can't hide a house, move it offshore, or turn it into liquid assets.

In many ways, the house aspect of this story is a red herring; it's the identity theft that's the concern.

Money: that assertiveness course..... I do worry for your rising blood pressure - and the rapid loss of your antagonists!

martindow

gettingtheresometime wrote: »

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????

Not being registered means you obviously can't get alerts, but maybe there is less scope for anyone trying to impersonate your mother as they would not be able to produce the deeds to try to sell the house.

It may be less at risk in this situation. Any would be fraudsters would not even know the name of the owner who may not be same as the resident.

[Deleted User]

martindow wrote: »

Not being registered means you obviously can't get alerts, but maybe there is less scope for anyone trying to impersonate your mother as they would not be able to produce the deeds to try to sell the house.

It may be less at risk in this situation. Any would be fraudsters would not even know the name of the owner who may not be same as the resident.

I'm not sure that this would stop them? If post is stolen, it's easy then to ring up the residents, (or even call round) posing as something like a double glazing salesman, to find out if they own the house. Or the person renting it might decide to defraud the owner themselves.

The government website "Protect your land and property from fraud" says that not being registered makes a property more at risk (as you can't be alerted on any changes to title).

As far I can gather (from all the bits of information I've been able to access) it seems to start with identity theft, so measures to counter that AND putting property alerts in place, should be sufficient. However, I do WISH the Land Registry would clear this up.

Maybe time for MSE to do an article on this - PLEASE !!. .

davidmcn

Corona wrote: »

I'm not sure that this would stop them? If post is stolen, it's easy then to ring up the residents, (or even call round) posing as something like a double glazing salesman, to find out if they own the house. Or the person renting it might decide to defraud the owner themselves.

The government website "Protect your land and property from fraud" says that not being registered makes a property more at risk (as you can't be alerted on any changes to title).

Unless you can find an example of someone successfully carrying out a fraud involving an unregistered property which they couldn't even provide access to, never mind any deeds, I don't think this is a scenario worth worrying about too much.