Beating Fraud

[dls]

Some years ago, certain criminals calculated that teh conveyancing system was a likely fraud soft spot. They were often right, to teh expense variously of the lients, the profesion and the land registry.

New guidance for the profession has been introduced:

Joint property and title fraud advice note
Available at https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/Policy-ca ... vice-note/

[DannyJP]

I know very little about this, but was pointed to a useful free service from the Land Registry who will notify you of any suspicious activity for a registered property.

https://propertyalert.landregistry.gov.uk/

[atticus]

Yes, I mentioned that a while back. It was a bit scary to get an e-mail from this alert service - until I saw that it said "nothing to report".

Law Society Gazette article. This confirms my understanding that absent owners are more susceptible to these frauds. These would include owners of rental property and those who have gone into residential care.

I have heard that leaving a small balance of the mortgage unpaid so that there is an undischarged mortgage shown on the title at Land Registry may act as a deterrent, but I have no actual knowledge.