Identity Theft is all too common these days and various websites tell you how to prevent it happening to you. What these website NEVER talk about is the theft of your own home by identity thieves! The Land Registry is (supposedly) a more secure way of registering the owner of a house, but the problem is that the owner of any property registered with the Land Registry is freely available to anyone who pays £3! A house is most people's most valuable possession, yet the government chose to allow anyone to find out who the owner is and even who the mortgagee is! This information would be invaluable to an identity thief. Typically, a house is stolen by a tenant in a rented property - he simply uses the landlord's name and then sells the property! For us will loved one's overseas there is also a danger when you perhaps go to the Philippines and stay two months there to get married! If your property is registered with the Land Registry you can help protect yourself (for free) by giving the Land Registry new contact details - this can include an e-mail address and two other addresses. Should any attempted transactions occur for your property you would then be immediately notified by e-mail. You can use up to three contact addresses in all - so you may want to include a family member's contact address as well! The Land Registry will pay out if, by their negligence, your home is stolen - but far better to ensure it does not happen in the first place! If your property is not registered with the Land Registry ensure that you keep the deeds in a very safe place!
I once spoke to a man who had his house stolen.. I remember thinking at first "How does one steal a house"?
It is surprisingly easy especially if you live in private rented accommodation - adopt the identity of the landlord, open some accounts in landlord's name, including Council Tax and a bank account and sell the house or, better still, apply for a mortgage! Some people even impersonate Solicitors or employ a dodgy Solicitor to perform the dastardly deeds!
