Property fraud continues to cause problems for homeowners, with scammers registering homes into their own names before selling them on.
Once a property has been sold, the buyer generally obtains good legal title, leaving the original homeowner to make a legal claim for compensation. In a recent case, a vicar working away from home came back to find a buyer had cleared his house of all of his belongings and a builder was at work renovating it. His only recourse was to bring a claim against the Land Registry.
Registering a restriction against the title of your property
To try and help combat this devastating type of fraud, the Land Registry offer the option of registering a restriction on the Land Register. This will ensure that anyone dealing with the sale or purchase of the property goes to extra lengths to identify that it is genuinely you who are selling.
Whilst anyone can be targeted by fraudsters, properties are particularly at risk where:
- There is no mortgage over the property
- The property is let or is a second home
- The property is empty
- The property is unregistered
- You have had your identity stolen
- The property owner is deceased
- The property is high value
- The property is owned by a company
Where any of these circumstances exist, you are advised to ask your solicitor to enter a restriction on the Land Register on your behalf. Once the restriction is in place, the property cannot be sold without a solicitor confirming that they have checked the identity of the seller and providing a certificate to this effect.
Other methods of protecting your ownership of your property
The Land Registry also operates a property alert service that anyone can sign up to. While this does not prevent fraudulent dealing, it does mean that if certain triggering actions are taken, you will be notified. For example, if someone obtains a title search against your home and you have signed up for property alerts, you should receive an email advising you of the search. This will allow you to take immediate action to investigate and take further steps to protect your home. It is highly recommended that you seek legal help straightaway in this event.
Finally, you should always ensure that all of your contact details are up to date with the Land Registry so that they can easily contact you if they need to. This is particularly important if you are not living at the property yourself.
You should also make sure that your property is registered. If it is subject to a mortgage or you purchased it after December 1990 then it will be registered.
Contact us
If you are thinking of buying or selling your home and you would like to speak to one of our expert property lawyers, ring us on 0333 305 5189 or email us at info@lpropertylawyers.co.uk
