On Tuesday last week 4th March (2014) a new Service was launched by the Land Registry called Property Alert to help those who believe that their property may be at risk of fraud.

There have been many cases of property fraud and are a variety of methods used by criminals. Two of the most common ways used by conmen is that they will attain forged documents to get hold of a property and have been known to impersonate the legal registered owner.

Having pulled off this part of the fraud, the criminals are free to"mortgage" the property and disappear with the money that was raised......and of course the hapless owner is left having to face the music. 

The Counter-Fraud Unit of the Land Registry has been working hand in hand with police forces and other agencies in an effort to stamp out this illegal practice and have been rewarded in their efforts.

In just under five years the Land Registry has successfully prevented over £62 million of property fraud. 

Alasdair Lewis, Director of Legal Services, said:
“Following a successful trial of Property Alert, we hope that many homeowners will want to sign up for this new free service to help them protect what is probably their most valuable asset.”

Anyone who signs up for the service is then able to register up to three properties to be included in the service with the guarantee that when the Land Registry receives any notification to change the register or any official searches, they will send an email to the registered owners.

The Alert Service will forearm people with the knowledge of a bank requesting a search on their property and if it is the start of a fraud process, will give them plenty of time to contact the appropriate service or establishment to nip it in the bud. The email will also contain contact details of services that will assist and the relevant steps to take .

To register and sign up is easy enough as the Land Registry supplies a link to an online video showing potential service users the actual process itself. There is also a section of Frequently Asked Questions

 

To sign up for the completely free of charge Alert Service go to:
http://www.landregistry.gov.uk/propertyalert and they can also be contacted by phone on 0800 678 1678.

The Land Registry has supplied the following details about the properties most likely to be at risk from property fraud.

• Empty properties – such as where the owner lives abroad or is in a care home
• Where there is a family dispute. For example when a relative dies or a relationship breaks down, a family member could try to sell a property without dividing the proceeds of the sale with those who are entitled to a share.
• Tenanted properties where the owner lives elsewhere. For example, tenants could gain access to the landlord’s information and provide proof of residence at an address. They could then use this to take out credit against the property or sell the property without the owner being aware.
• Properties where there is no mortgage. According to our records, more than 9 million residential properties are mortgage-free – that’s nearly half of all registered residential properties.