Are you a homeowner in South Elmsall or the surrounding area? If so, can you imagine the nightmare scenario of coming home one day to find the locks on your house changed, and to be told that your house has been sold without your knowledge?

How can you prevent something like this happening to you or your friends and family? The Land Registry are encouraging people to set up a free ‘property alert’ in order to warn them if someone attempts to alter key details of their property online.

Official figures show only around a quarter of a million of Britain’s 29 million homes are registered with a ‘property alert’. An individual can sign up to the service to receive email alerts when certain activity occurs on their monitored properties. Or, you can call the Property Alert team on 0300 006 0478.

An individual does not have to own a property to register for the service, but usually it will be the registered proprietor.

Up to ten properties can be monitored and the same property can be monitored by different people.

The Land Registry was forced to pay out £3.5m in compensation to homeowners in 2020 after approving fraudulent transactions, up two thirds on the previous year. It has thwarted close to 200 other attempted frauds worth £115m since 2016.

So, what actually happens when a fraudster ‘steals’ a house? Basically:

• Scammers attempt to transfer your property into their name using false documents, or stolen identities, in some cases, even whilst you are living there.
• The scammers then raise mortgages against, or sell, your property without you knowing.

Victims can find that they have to leave their home as there is nothing that can be done to get the property back and are left with having to claim compensation from the Land Registry to replace their home.

The scam typically targets homes that are mortgage free, empty and not registered at the Land Registry or where the owner lives elsewhere, e.g. buy to lets.

To protect yourself against the risk of property fraud, you should consider the following:

• Register your property on the Land Registry, if it is not already registered.
• Sign up for the free property alert
• Put a restriction on your title: this will stop the Land Registry registering any sale or mortgage on your property unless a conveyancer or solicitor certifies that the application was made by you. This restriction:
  • Costs £40 if you live at the property.
  • Is free where you do not live at the property but own it privately.
  • Is free if a company owns the property.

These simple steps may help avoid you or someone you know being victim of property fraud.

Blatant fraud by a stranger is sadly not the only risk that homeowners face: sometimes family members can be perpetrators, with victims often being the elderly and vulnerable.

There may be apparent consent by a property owner to a transfer, for example signed documents, but they may not be what they seem, as undue influence might be involved.

There can be a misapprehension that if someone has mental capacity that “it’s their choice” and nothing can be done. That’s not correct and it may be possible to set aside a transfer of property. Many older or vulnerable individuals transfer their homes, for example to an adult child, or put it into a trust without really understanding the implications for them. The plan can backfire for all sorts of reasons. Legal advice should always be taken before transferring a property to avoid care home fees (or to avoid inheritance tax on death).

If a family member suggests that it would be a good idea to transfer your property to them, or to someone else, always consider and discuss the proposal with, at the very least, an independent solicitor, ideally one accredited by SFE.

In summary – your property may well be your single most valuable asset. Sadly this means that others may target you to acquire it. If you need advice about a property that’s been transferred when it should not have been, please contact our specialist litigation team on our free phone 0800 8 60 62 65 or via our free 24/7 live chat facility on our website.