On 4th March this year Land Registry launched a new service called Property Alert aimed at anyone who thinks their property could be at risk of fraud.

Property fraud can happen in many ways. For example, fraudsters may attempt to acquire ownership of a property by using forged documents, or by impersonating the registered owner. The fraudsters may then raise money by mortgaging the property without the owner’s knowledge before disappearing without making repayments, leaving the owner to deal with the consequences.

Land Registry’s award-winning Counter-Fraud Unit works closely with the police and other agencies to reduce the risk of property fraud. Between September 2009 and January 2014 they stopped fraud on properties worth more than £62 million.

Land Registry hopes that many homeowners will want to sign up for this new free service to help them protect what is probably their most valuable asset.

People can sign up and register up to three properties to be monitored. E-mail alerts will be sent when Land Registry receives an application to change the register as well as for official searches. They can then judge whether or not the activity is suspicious and if they should seek further advice. For example, if you receive an alert that a bank has lodged a search on your property but you have not applied for a mortgage, you may want to seek legal advice, contact Action Fraud, or contact the bank in question to tell them you are the owner and have not applied for a mortgage. Investigations into the authenticity of the mortgage application can then begin much earlier in the process.

Liz Wallis at Ridley & Hall LLP comments:-

“Those in the conveyancing profession are alive to the risks of property fraud and this new service launched by Land Registry should be a useful tool in the fight against this particular type of fraud.

Land Registry’s criteria are:-

• The property you want to monitor must be registered with Land Registry.
• You must create a Property Alert account to use the service
• Alerts are sent by e-mail
• Alerts are sent when official searches and applications are received against a monitored property
• If you receive an alert about activity that seems suspicious you should take swift action. The alert e-mail will signpost you to who to contact.
• You don’t have to own a property to set up an alert
• The same property can be monitored by different people.”

In the event you want to apply for the service but your property is currently unregistered, Ridley & Hall can assist with your voluntary registration of property at the Land Registry.  Enquiries in this regard should be directed to Liz Wallis, Alison Mason or Adam Fletcher.