Property Alert has made an announcement due to customer feedback they have upgraded the service so that the number of properties that any one person can monitor ,has been increased to ten. The original number of properties that customers were allowed to "view" was three.

The Property Alert service, which is free, was launched in March 2014 following a successful trial. Property Alert helps landlords and letting agents monitor their properties to offset the danger of them being used in fraudulent activity, such as change of registry of the property etc.

The owner of Property Alert, Tracey Salvin said: “We have been collating feedback on the service since we trialled it and there were repeated requests to increase the number of properties people could monitor, such as from landlords who rent out several properties and who fall into the higher risk category of being victims of property fraud.”

Those who wish to take advantage of this free service have to fill in the online forms, complete their registration and list their properties that need to be monitored. Once this is completed, if the Land Registry receives an application to change the register of any of the properties, or any searches are requested, members will be immediately sent an email alert.

Members will be notified of any suspicious activities such as when a bank lodges a search on a property that a member has, and there has been an application for a mortgage, if this occurs they will have time to take legal advice or contact Action Fraud.

Property Alert lists the most likely properties that can be at risk to property fraud.

Empty properties -as where the owner lives abroad or is in a care home
Tenanted properties – for example where the owner lives elsewhere, a tenant might try to mortgage or sell the property without the owner’s knowledge.

Where there are family problems e.g when a relative dies, a family member could try to sell a property without giving someone their proper share.

Properties without a mortgage. According to their records nearly half of all registered residential properties are mortgage-free