How Havering Landlords Can Outsmart Property Fraudsters

Have you heard of Title Fraud, a type of property crime that can involve tenanted homes?

Here’s how the scam works and how landlords can protect themselves.

Title Fraud sees a scammer pose as the owner of a property before ‘selling’ it to an unwitting buyer.

The crooks target mortgage-free properties that are empty or tenanted, and push for a cash-only settlement to avoid scrutiny from lenders.

When the actual property owner and the ‘new buyer’ realise what’s happened, they face a lengthy legal process to sort the mess out. Meanwhile, the fraudster has vanished with a large sum of money.

𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟

HM Land Registry is urging property owners, especially landlords, to sign up to its free alert service. This will notify you if anyone attempts to change the register for your property.

You can also put a restriction on your title that prevents a sale or mortgage on the property being registered unless a solicitor has certified that you made the application.

Furthermore, you could get a letting agent to manage your property and act as an extra pair of eyes on the ground.

𝐓𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲.