The Land Registry are offering a new free service to property owners. Property Alert is a property monitoring service, which is available to anyone who feels that a registered property could be at risk from fraudulent activity.
Property fraud can be in many different forms e.g. fraudsters may steal someone’s identity and attempt to gain ownership of a property by using forged documents. The fraudsters may then raise money by mortgaging the property without the owner’s knowledge before disappearing with the money, leaving the owner to deal with the consequences of a large debt.
The fraudsters typically target properties that are:
- Mortgage free
- Vacant
- Where the owner lives elsewhere e.g. Buy To Let Properties
- Unregistered properties (these are properties where title deeds have never been produced to the Land Registry for registration)
These are the properties where owners are less likely to notice that fraudulent documents have been filed at the Land Registry.
How it works
You can:
- monitor a property if it’s already registered with HM Land Registry
- monitor the property of a relative; you don’t have to own a property to set up an alert
- choose up to 10 properties to monitor
How to create an account
The property you want to monitor must be situated in England or Wales and registered with HM Land Registry.
- You must create a Property Alert account to use the service.
- You will receive a HM Land Registry email to enable you to verify your details.
- You must then sign into your account to add a property.
- Email alerts are sent when official searches and applications are received against a monitored property.
- If you receive an alert about activity that seems suspicious, you should take swift action. The alert will signpost you with regards who to contact.
- You don’t have to own a property to set up an alert.
- You can use the service if you are not online. Call the Property Alert Team on 0300 006 0478.
Please be aware, whilst the Land Registry have been able to stop some cases where fraudulent documents have been submitted, not all cases are stopped, so it is important to help protect yourself against property theft.
