Landlords warned to stay vigilent over identity fraud
Landlords may benefit from property management services which help to protect them from the risk of property title theft.
This is a type of idetity theft where a fraudster rents a property and then poses as its owner to take out a mortgage on the premises,before fleeing to leave the landlord to deal with a debt.
Often they forge documents or impersonate the landlord in order to acquire the title to the property.
The threat of this type oif fraud has been highlighted by last week's jailing for five years of Feruza Mettrick, who attempted to defraud several landlords of a total of £2.4 million using this method.
Commenting on the case, Graham Kinnear, managing director at Landlord Assist, a national tenancy referencing and eviction service, told thisismoney.co.uk: "Properties are the most valuable asset that people own, so not surprisingly are an attractive target for criminals.
"By impersonating the real owner of a property, fraudsters can take out a mortgage against a property they do not own, keep the money for themselves and leave the real owners with a huge debt and having to answer to a mortgage company that thinks they have a charge over the property.
"For their own peace of mind and to safeguard their business, landlords should be vigilant and take every possible measure to prevent identity theft."
One way landlords could help protect themselves from fraud is to use property services to help them find safe tenants who have been credit checked and referenced.
Landlords are also advised to register a correspondence address with the Land Registry to ensure that they get notified should anyone attempt to try and interfere with their title to the property.
Furthermore, they can opt to include in their title a restriction requiring the Land Registry not to register any change to the title without their consent.
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