It is incredibly important that you take some simple steps to ensure that your property is protected from unscrupulous fraudsters.
Earlier this year, a mother and daughter were found guilty of conspiring to commit fraud, after they posed as the owners of a property in Kensington, London. The mother, Diane Moorcroft, impersonated the owner of the property and attempted to take out a bridging loan on the property worth £1.2 million.
Thankfully the registered owner did not lose the property, as the application was flagged as fraudulent by Land Registry, which is a powerful ally for you when it comes to protecting your home.
It’s vital that you register your property with Land Registry. It should be registered already if you bought it since 1998, while it’s also important to ensure your contact details are up to date. You can have up to three addresses on there, so you can still be easily contacted even if you live some distance from the property.
If you sign up for the Land Registry’s Property Alert service, you’ll then be sent an email anytime there is some sort of activity on a specified property, like if someone tries to take out a mortgage. Be warned, this alert doesn’t prevent that activity taking place – it simply flags the activity, so you can pursue it if it looks suspicious
You can also choose to have a ‘restriction’ entered on a property. This stops certain applications taking place unless a conveyancer or solicitor confirms the application was indeed made by you.
The types of property that attract fraudsters
According to Land Registry, there are certain characteristics that particularly appeal to these sorts of fraudsters. They are most likely to attempt to swindle owners of properties that are high value, mortgage-free and are rented out. Those which are empty or which are not registered with the Land Registry also feature on fraudster wish lists.
A property is the biggest purchase you are likely to make, so it pays to ensure that you protect it from fraudsters.