Keep your Property Safe - Beat the Fraudsters

 


Stealing houses!

This subject keeps catching the media’s, and programme maker’s, eye and makes a good story. But it has a grounding in truth.

There have been a few cases (well known to conveyancers and one of the reasons we now have to ask so many questions and have so much information about your I/d) where examples of this have occurred. Sometimes HM Land Registry, who are getting better at spotting fraudulent transactions, or a conveyancer suspect something is wrong and stop the transaction time. But even then someone may well have lost out such as where a transaction goes through but is not registered- there the purchaser, and possibly their lender, will lose out unless the money is claimed back - and you can bet the fraudulent seller will be off the scene by then, probably with someone else’s money!

These are usually high value transactions but a recent one was for £131,000 - apparently an arrest in that case has recently been made which may help shed some more light on criminal’s tactics in this area.

The residential property litigation  paid out nearly £10,000,000 compensation in 2015 but this was down to 3,500,000 in 2020 as investigations proved more successful.

The transactions are usually where the properties are empty or tenanted with the Tenant often involved in the fraud. There are many other “red flags” for conveyancers, which may not be that significant in themselves but linked together point to a potential fraudulent activity.

So I hope you now understand why we have to be so careful. Our regulators require it, and so do our insurers. There is an overlap with money laundering insofar as Identity and fraud is concerned but they are really separate issues.

If you are a property owner we encourage you to take advantage of HM Land Registry’s Property Alert Service” and there are also other ways of at least improving the chances of being caught out by fraudsters.

If you need further help please contact us at HB121 Solicitors on 01562 702655 or info@hb121solicitors.co.uk.

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