Uncommon, but with serious consequences
Property fraud may be uncommon, but when it happens, the personal and financial harm can be enormous. That means prevention matters. A free email alert will not solve every problem, but it can create the crucial moment when suspicious activity is spotted early enough to stop much bigger damage.
The recent case reported by The Times shows how disruptive title fraud can become when it is not stopped quickly. The paper reported that a 74-year-old homeowner, Stanislaw Sokolowski, returned to find his Brentford home being emptied after fraudsters had falsely declared him dead and used forged documents to transfer and sell the property. The report said he then faced a 30-month legal battle and spent more than £150,000 proving he was alive and reclaiming his home. That is an extreme example, but it underlines why agents should not dismiss fraud prevention as a niche issue.
HM Land Registry’s own examples include an attempted transfer of a bungalow valued at £360,000 and an attempted £200,000 mortgage against a house where the owner said they had made no such application. In one of those cases, the owners were alerted by Property Alert, visited the property, found the locks changed, and a For Sale board outside, and HM Land Registry cancelled the transfer application.
Which properties could be at higher risk?
Owners are more likely targets if they:
- rent out the property
- live overseas
- leave the property empty
- own the property mortgage-free
- have had their identity stolen before
- have not registered the property with HM Land Registry
That is highly relevant for letting agents, estate agents handling probate or long-empty stock, and agents working with absentee owners, landlords and families managing property on behalf of relatives.
Signposting clients to Property Alert
The free service is available in England and Wales and allows users to monitor up to 10 registered properties. A person does not need to own the property to set up an alert, which means relatives can also monitor titles.
Users receive email alerts when certain activity occurs on a property, such as an application to change the register or a new mortgage application. The alert does not block the change, but it gives the recipient a prompt to act.
That makes the service particularly useful as part of an agent’s consumer protection advice. They can remind sellers, landlords, and absentee owners to keep their contact details on the register up to date, check whether a property is registered, and consider whether an alert should be set up as routine good practice.
For higher-risk titles, owners can apply to HM Land Registry for a restriction, which can stop a sale or mortgage being registered unless a conveyancer or solicitor certifies that the application was made by the genuine owner. For owners who do not live at the property, there is no fee for that restriction request.
