Protecting against property fraud

Property fraud commonly occurs when criminals pretend to be you in order to sell or mortgage your property.

Often the fraudsters will used forged documents or impersonate you to acquire ownership of your property. If you are a commercial or residential property owner, you may be particularly susceptible to property fraud in the following situations:

• If you rent out your property
• If you spend long periods of time abroad
• If you have an empty property
• If your property is not subject to a mortgage
• If you are experiencing relationship problems

But it’s not always rogue tenants or faceless criminals who are to blame. Often the fraudsters are known to the property owner and the fraud can be the result of family problems. For example, when a relative dies, a family member could try and sell a property to prevent having to give another family member their share of the property. In other circumstances, a relationship breakdown may lead to someone trying to mortgage a property without their partner knowing.

Reducing the risk of property fraud

Methods of reducing the risk of property fraud include the following:

• Ensuring your property is registered. This may mean you are compensated if you suffer financial loss as a consequence of property fraud
• Applying for a restriction to be entered against the title of your property. This restriction means that the Land Registry will not register a dealing with your property unless a solicitor has checked the identity of the person signing the deed.
• Ensuring that your Land Registry contact details are up to date. This enables the Land Registry to contact you easily, even if you live abroad.

Extra protection with the Land Registry Property Alert Service

To combat the threat of property fraud, the Land Registry recently created a free service called the Property Alert Service.

This service ensures that you are notified if any major applications to alter the register of your property are made, for example if somebody tries to change the details of who owns the property.

It allows you to monitor up to 10 properties, provided they are registered in England or Wales. You also do not have to be the owner of the property to set up the alert system, therefore if you have loved ones who you believe may be susceptible to property fraud; signing up to this service could be a wise idea.

For more information on protecting against property fraud, or any other property matters, contact Rabia Bapu on 01772 258321.