Does anyone know how this scam makes money

soolin

I recently I caught the tail end of a programme (admittedly an old one, pre covid) of such a scam. As above, a rogue 'landlord' pretends to own the property , takes deposits, even moves people in and when challenged does a moonlight flit. The one I saw left several families living in squalor in an over populated house and the real owner had real issues trying to get everyone out as many refused to go. Some of the tenants were in the house for months.

I think you have been very wise acting so quickly especially with setting up an alarm, it might also be worth keeping an eye of rental websites going forward. 

Emmia

Personally I'd get the property registered properly, not leave it for the new owners.

Not having it registered must increase the risk of being scammed, through fraudulent documents etc., giving someone else title. Not having it registered also means you can't have the land registry alerts.

user1977

Emmia said:

Not having it registered must increase the risk of being scammed, through fraudulent documents etc., giving someone else title. Not having it registered also means you can't have the land registry alerts.

I think it's the other way round - a scammer would prefer something registered, having to also deal with first registration adds to the hassle factor (and also they'd be expected to produce the unregistered deeds). To deal with a registered property all you really need is fake ID.

thegreenone

Surely the crime of Breaking and Entering has been committed?

Smalltownhypocrite

pothole70 said:

I have an empty property for sale that I visited on Monday, I went back on Wednesday and the For Sale sign had been removed and the locks had been changed on the front and back doors. My estate agent and solicitor knew nothing about it. I then called 101 for advice from the police as I was getting a locksmith to enter the property and was concerned someone might be in there, but apparently they won’t get involved until a crime is committed. Even though now I have evidence that it appeared on another estate website for far less than what we are asking, and a neighbour witnessed thirteen people stood outside then entering the property in their eyes no crime has been committed. I was just told to call Action Fraud who don’t act to prevent fraud, they act after fraud is committed. So I fitted a new lock and bolts to the back door, an alarm fitted that also alerts me by phone if someone enters the property, and deadlock night latch on the front door, and a locksmith bill of £297 to get into the property, which I now feel ripped off, but at the time we just needed to get in.

So if you have got to the end of my story, has anyone experienced this and how without the deeds to the property do these scumbags make money out of it. Any advice would be appreciated.

Are you in America or the UK?

I have heard of this scam in America, dodgy realtors drive around looking for abandoned houses and then change the locks and sell them. I always assumed they must have really different systems though because theres no way you could get through conveyance over here in England without it being flagged. The only way I could see them making any money here is to charge fees but people rarely pay fees to EA and the amounts are tiny (we paid £10 for money laundering checks, hardly worth committing a crime for).

I was buying a probate property an got trapped as it was found out the person selling it didn't have a claim to the probate so the sale couldn't progress.

The other option is could it be a migrant house? they are usually subletted and the telltale is the whole house will be covered in mattresses. That's a common scam over here in the UK, they charge each migrant £10 per night and pack the house full usually 30+ people so make over £2000 a week. The migrants themselves cause no issues really (usually trying to keep to themselves as you would in a foreign country where you worry people might be hostile) but the houses become dangerous fire traps though of dodgy wiring and no escape routes. Its basically a form of exploitation. 

Smalltownhypocrite

Tryinghardtosave said:

How long has it been empty for? Does it look like it is decayed or derelict? Maybe they were eying it up for a cannabis farm or something ? Did you not report a crime of breaking and entering to the police ?
Do you have insurance for the building ?

Cannabis farms will usually want good electrics (to power their grow), good EPC (to keep heat in) and a good house/neighbor hood (to rouse less suspicion).

Jaybee_16

The ground floor flat next door to me had been empty for over 20 years until one day someone broke in, changed the locks, by passed the meters and let the flat to 10 or so people. Two bedroom flat with five mattresses on the floor of each bedroom.
Police visited a couple of times but did nothing more in the months they were there until one morning the police raided and cleared them out.

Exodi

pothole70 said:

Thank you for all the replies just for an update the house is in need of modernisation and has an EPC of F so could not be used as a rental.

I think you're missing the point.

The intent behind the scam I'm referring to isn't to actually rent out the property... it's to pretend you're an estate agent renting it out so you can collect a load of fake deposits and rent advances from people, then disappear.