ITV’s new four-part series Our House started this week. The storyline deals with the breakup of a marriage and the matrimonial home being sold without the wife’s knowledge.
Is this reality? Can this really happen? – Well yes it can. It may constitute a fraud, but it can happen, and it can be very expensive to unravel.
Criminals are continually using new methods of trying to “steal” the ownership of properties to use them to sell or raise finance on them. Also as is shown in the program this fraud can also be perpetrated by an unhappy spouse unless the ending of the series on Thursday gives some other explanation.
So is there anything you can do to help prevent your home being ‘stolen’?
No system is 100% secure but there are three things which together you can do that will help
- When you buy a property ask the conveyancer or solicitor acting for you to enter and “LL” restriction on the Land Register. If this restriction is entered on the register, any document that is produced to the Land Registry, whether a Transfer or Mortgage, it has to be accompanied by a certificate from a conveyancer that the person who signed the document has been correctly identified. If this is registered at the same time as your transfer is being registered there is no fee payable. If you already own the property but you do not live there you can enter the restriction without paying a fee. If you do live at the property, the fee to enter the restriction is £40. Our Property Team at Morecrofts has been entering these restrictions on all property purchases for the past 6 years.
- The Land Register for your property will contain an address to which the Land Registry will write to you about the property. You must keep this address up to date if you move from the property and still own it or if you rent it out. You can have up to three addresses on the register which can include non-UK addresses and email addresses. You can find more detailed information here
- Register at the Land Registry for Property Alerts. This is a free service you can access at https://propertyalert.landregistry.gov.uk/ Once you have registered for the alert the Land Registry will email you should any application be received by them that relates to the property. You can then decide whether you are aware of the application and if it is suspicious contact the Land Registry. You can register alerts for up to 10 properties in England Wales.
By using the above tools, you could help stop criminal activity, and disgruntled spouses or partners in respect of your property and prevent you from becoming a crime statistic.