Luton man left shocked as his house is ‘stolen’

[6Foot2]

Link: Luton man left shocked as his house is ‘stolen’ - BBC News

 

A man has described his shock at returning to his house and finding it stripped of all furnishings after it was sold without his knowledge.

 

Having been alerted by neighbours, the Reverend Mike Hall drove to Luton and found building work under way and a new owner who said he had bought the house.

 

A BBC investigation found Mr Hall's identity had been stolen and used to sell the house and bank the proceeds.

 

Police initially told him it was not fraud but are now investigating.

 

Mr Hall, who was away from the property and working in north Wales, said he received a call from his neighbours on 20 August, saying that someone was in the house and all the lights were on.

 

The following morning, he drove there.

 

"I went to the front door, tried my key in the front door, it didn't work and a man opened the front door to me," he told BBC Radio 4's You and Yours.

 

"I pushed him to one side and got in the property. I really didn't know what he was doing there.

 

"The shock of seeing the house completely stripped of furniture; all furnishings, carpet, curtains - everything - was out of the property."

 

The man said he was doing building work, to which Mr Hall replied: "I haven't sold the house. This is still my property."

 

Mr Hall phoned the police, but the builder left and returned with the new owner's father, who said he had bought the terraced house in July, adding: "It is now my property. You are now trespassing. Get out."

 

'A civil matter'

 

Mr Hall said: "We then tried to access the Land Registry documentation online to find out whose name appeared... and it is, in fact, as of 4 August, this man's name.

 

"At that point the police said, 'Well, there's nothing further we can do here. This is a civil matter; you need to leave the house and contact your solicitors.'"

 

He then tried to contact police online, but received the same response.

 

"I was shocked - having seen the house in the state it was, I was in a bit of a state of shock anyway - but then to be told by the police they didn't believe a criminal offence had been committed here was just unbelievable," he said.

 

The BBC put Mr Hall in touch with Bedfordshire Police's fraud squad, which has begun an investigation.

 

A spokeswoman said there had been no arrests.

 

You and Yours obtained the driving licence used to impersonate Mr Hall, details of a bank account set up in his name to receive the proceeds of the sale, and phone recordings of the house being stolen.

 

'We will co-operate'

 

Once the house was sold to the new owner for £131,000 by the person impersonating Mr Hall, they legally owned it.

 

The solicitors involved in the property transaction said there was an ongoing police investigation and that it was inappropriate to comment further.

 

"We will continue to co-operate with the police, and comply with our professional obligations," said the firm, which the BBC has chosen not to name.

 

The Land Registry paid out a total of £3.5m in compensation for fraud last year.

 

It said: "We work with professional conveyancers, such as solicitors, and rely on them and the checks that they make to spot fraudulent attempts to impersonate property owners.

 

"Despite our efforts, every year we do register a very small number of fraudulent transactions."

[elsiegee40]

I read this. It’s horrifying that it was so easy to do. He’s lost everything. His house and all his possessions

[Arthur]

The following website is worth mentioning...

 

https://propertyalert.landregistry.gov.uk

 

Property Alert is an award winning free property monitoring service aimed at anyone who feels a registered property could be at risk from fraud.

 

Once you have signed up to the service, you will receive email alerts when certain activity occurs on your monitored properties, allowing you to take action if necessary.

[Roberto]

The following website is worth mentioning...

 

https://propertyalert.landregistry.gov.uk

 

Yes. I signed up to that on advice from my conveyancer when we moved last time. It’s a free service and as terrible cases like this Luton one show, while the odds may be small of this happening to you, the impact is devastating and it’s incredibly difficult to untangle.

[Ketlane]

Heard this on the R4 You & Yours programme. The frightening bit was that the Land Registry record is, in law, absolutely definitive - if you are on there, you are the owner.

Seems most likely to happen if you are not in occupation of the house for whatever reason.

[hardtailstar]

I cant image that ever happening to me but if his neighbour notified him on the 20th August but the registry was from 4th August. How long was he working away for?

 

Probably a good time to mention that if you are away for some time to get a family member or someone you trust to spend time in your house so it looks like it is being occupied.

[elsiegee40]

I cant image that ever happening to me but if his neighbour notified him on the 20th August but the registry was from 4th August. How long was he working away for?

 

Probably a good time to mention that if you are away for some time to get a family member or someone you trust to spend time in your house so it looks like it is being occupied.

 

We went away for 3 months at the start of 2020 (covid ‘happened’ while we were away) . Our next door neighbours were having an extension built and their kitchen ripped out starting just after we left. They used our kitchen and washing machine in our absence… worked out well for both of us!

[hardtailstar]

We went away for 3 months at the start of 2020 (covid ‘happened’ while we were away) . Our next door neighbours were having an extension built and their kitchen ripped out starting just after we left. They used our kitchen and washing machine in our absence… worked out well for both of us!

 

Im the school holiday housesitter of my family, works well for them and I get free accomadation for a holiday.

[TechMonkey]

I cant image that ever happening to me but if his neighbour notified him on the 20th August but the registry was from 4th August. How long was he working away for?

 

Probably a good time to mention that if you are away for some time to get a family member or someone you trust to spend time in your house so it looks like it is being occupied.

 

Sounds like he is a jobbing Vicar so could have accommodation provided and not need or have been able to get back to his house.

 

@Arthur Thanks for the heads up on the Land Registry service. Signed up and added my house and my parents.

[PrimaryNetMan]

Another thing to add is if you are away to change your contact details to someone you trust or a solicitor for example. Otherwise any correspondence will just go to the vacant address and you still won't know. You can also put a restriction on your title to stop HM Land Registry registering a sale or mortgage on your property unless a conveyancer or solicitor certifies the application was made by you.

 

Although still no guarantee, as in this case fraudster tricked the solicitor into thinking he was the client after first obtaining a drivers licence direct from the DVLA, and utility bills.

[TechMonkey]

Although still no guarantee, as in this case fraudster tricked the solicitor into thinking he was the client after first obtaining a drivers licence direct from the DVLA, and utility bills.

 

I think this is the concern. It is a litany of issues, a chain of frauds, that all succeeded and weren't caught.

[Koldov]

The frightening bit was that the Land Registry record is, in law, absolutely definitive - if you are on there, you are the owner.

 

This is absolutely bonkers (although I can see the logic for certain reasons), there has to be a way of changing that, especially as it got there illegally. Although as with any 'stolen goods' you'd be very unhappy if you were the person that bought the house in good faith.

 

Interesting though... I know it's a lot more complicated than a burglar selling a stereo at a car boot sale because fraud and burglary are different methods of obtaining what doesn't belong to you, but it is still theft so is it really any different and it's receiving stolen goods... (if you buy something that is stolen you don't own it)? Can't believe the police said fraud is a civil matter and needed the BBC to intervene...

 

first obtaining a drivers licence direct from the DVLA, and utility bills.

 

Quite a bit gone wrong there, a catalogue of errors (obviously a few loopholes need closing) and shows the perpetrators were well versed in their criminal activity.

 

You'd have to be reasonably certain the house owners weren't due to return any time soon... I'm presuming they intercepted the mail or had broken in to the house to pick up utility bills and get an estate agent to list the house (unless it was an auction or they listed it privately and did it purely via solicitor over email or something)? Things like driving licenses and passports if they are to be taken as complete proof of identity should be much, much harder to obtain.

 

I had a car registered to my address once (I know it's not on anything like the above sort of scale). A letter from the DVLA arrived with someone else's name but to my address (obviously you can register any car to any address) it did make me wonder if it was someone trying to do something illegal (I mean it isn't very likely you would register a car to someone else's address by mistake), but when I contacted the DVLA they weren't very interested. I wouldn't have been pleased if the police kicked my door in after the car had been used by 'ne'er-do-wells' in nefarious activities...

Edited November 2, 2021 by Koldov

[LeMarchand]

I can't see a way for this to get resolved in an equitable fashion apart from if the fraudster was caught and forced to pay any affected parties restitution immediately and in full. (Which won't happen). If the owner gets his house back, what about his stuff, inconvenience and other expenses? If he doesn't - he's out of pocket by a huge amount. If the buyer has to give up the house, they've already spent thousands on the purchase and building work. Assuming they bought the house in good faith, they must be feeling pretty bad as well.

[Koldov]

There was a part in article that mentioned restitution (my bold):

 

"Once the house was sold to the new owner for £131,000 by the person impersonating Mr Hall, they legally owned it.

 

The solicitors involved in the property transaction said there was an ongoing police investigation and that it was inappropriate to comment further.

 

"We will continue to co-operate with the police, and comply with our professional obligations," said the firm, which the BBC has chosen not to name.

 

The Land Registry paid out a total of £3.5m in compensation for fraud last year.

 

It said: "We work with professional conveyancers, such as solicitors, and rely on them and the checks that they make to spot fraudulent attempts to impersonate property owners.

 

"Despite our efforts, every year we do register a very small number of fraudulent transactions."

 

I'm just guessing, but failing the capture of the criminal and his assets being returned to their rightful owners, it falls to whomever can be held culpable (which may also be hard to prove).

 

If the DVLA were given everything they required (which isn't much apparently if you have access to a few key bits of personal information), the solicitors did due diligence (which may mean just looking at the driving license and utility bills), the bank that opened an account in his name (which is also easy once you have the driving license and utility bills) and the land registry just relies on all this being done (by all these professionals), who is to blame?

 

I'm not sure it should fall to the Land Registry to compensate though, given the amount of individual institutions that were a party to this fraud...

Edited November 2, 2021 by Koldov

[steve]

 

If the DVLA were given everything they required (which isn't much apparently if you have access to a few key bits of personal information), the solicitors did due diligence (which may mean just looking at the driving license and utility bills), the bank that opened an account in his name (which is also easy once you have the driving license and utility bills) and the land registry just relies on all this being done (by all these professionals), who is to blame?

 

I'm not sure it should fall to the Land Registry to compensate though, given the amount of individual institutions that were a party to this fraud...

 

The DVLA require a "professional" to sign your photo and should check that professional knows the person applying so there should be some verification. For new bank accounts I've been asked for a range of identification including a photo. But my guess is due to "COVID" these checks were less than thorough.

 

Perhaps its time for reform of the land registry. Could we have a public / private key similar to encryption for property ownership? Its our responsibility to guard our key - store it either electronically or as a bit of ascii printed out? Or the use of a blockchain as a mechanism to prove ownership.

[Roberto]

 

Perhaps its time for reform of the land registry. Could we have a public / private key similar to encryption for property ownership? Its our responsibility to guard our key - store it either electronically or as a bit of ascii printed out? Or the use of a blockchain as a mechanism to prove ownership.

 

The vast majority of people won’t understand how any of this works, and either will lose their ‘digital signature’ or will have to place it with an escrow service of some sort - I imagine solicitors companies would offer a service, for example, and those would be vulnerable to phishing (a would individuals who look after their own data, now I think about it) and we’re back to square one.

[Gibbo]

I read this. It’s horrifying that it was so easy to do. He’s lost everything. His house and all his possessions

 

And then to add insult to injury the police churn out the "civil matter" rubbish. Its only when they're named and shamed there's action.

 

Round my way someone's car was hit by an uninsured hit and run driver. Despite having dashcam footage the police said "civil matter, go through your insurance".

 

I'm pretty sure that there's at least two laws being broken there.....