You may have seen press reports about a clergyman having his house sold by fraudsters who pocketed the sale proceeds and disappeared. How can you take steps to prevent this happening to you? Specialist property solicitor Celia Perry explains what the Land Registry property alert service is…
What happened?
The man did not live at the property, his concerned neighbours saw lights on in the house and knew he was working away so rang him to warn him. He went to his property to find that is keys did not work as the locks had been changed. Someone answered the door and said they had bought the house. Everything the clergyman had owned in the house had been removed and building work was going on.
How did this happen?
It turned out that the clergyman’s identity had been stolen and the stolen ID had been used to sell the house. He has lost his house, as it has been registered at Land Registry in the name of the person who bought it. The police are investigating.
Fraud risks
A property is particularly at risk of this sort of fraud if it is:
Not lived in;
Mortgage free; or
Tenanted.
Preventing property fraud
So how can you stop this happening to you, or your friends and relatives?
Make sure that the address Land Registry holds for you, known as the “address for service”, is up to date. Land Registry will use the address on its records if it needs to get in touch with you so if you have failed to keep the address up to date you will miss vital correspondence from Land Registry.
If you receive a letter or email from Land Registry deal with it quickly - you will only have a limited time to respond.
Sign up to the Land Registry property alert service. This is free.
What does the Land Registry property alert service do?
Once you have registered a property with the property alert service, Land Registry will notify you if a search is carried out on the title to the property or if it receives an application against the title of the property. The contact will be by email. Again, it is important that you deal immediately with any alert you receive from Land Registry under this service.
You can monitor up to 10 properties and more than one person can monitor the same property.
You can set up an alert for a property you own, or if you have an elderly friend or relative you can set up an alert for their property. You do not need to be the owner of the property to set up an alert using this service and the property owner will not be told that you have set up an alert.
How to register for the Land Registry property alert service
Go to the property alert service using this link: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/property-alert.
You will then be asked to create an account and will be guided through the process.
You will need a valid email address and the title number or postcode of the property for which you want to set up an alert.
What if you’re digitally excluded?
Even if you do not have access to the internet, you can still set up a property alert. If you wish to do this, you should ring Land Registry on 0300 006 0478 and explain that you want to set up a Property Alert.
Spread the word
Register for the service yourself. Spread the word, tell people you know about this service and encourage them to register for the property alert service.
Together, let’s stop any more innocent people having their property and hard earned money stolen by crooks.
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Residential property solicitor Celia Perry
