Landlords warned on LR fraud

Advice in the latest Young Groups newsletter highlights how landlords can avoid the dangers of Land Registry fraud where unscrupulous individuals attempt to sell or take ownership of a landlords buy-to-let property.

Steps that a landlord can take to avoid it are:

• Register your title. If you have not registered your property with
the Land Registry, do so straight away. Registering your property will
give you greater security of title. Also, if you do register and then
become the victim of fraud, you may be eligible for compensation
from the Land Registry.

• Keep your contact details up to date. When renting out a
property you should register a correspondence address which is
different to the property address - an ‘address for service’. The best
address for service would be your home address but make sure that
you update the Land Registry if you move house.

• Consider multiple ‘addresses for service’. To further
prevent fraud, the Land Registry allows you to have up to three
addresses for service. So rather than just putting your own
home address down,consider also providing them with your
email address, you may fi nd it useful to add your solicitor as the
third. Some of our clients already list Young Group’s details too.

• Put a restriction on your title. If you think you are particularly
at risk of fraud, you might want to consider applying for the entry
of a restriction on your title. This means that the Land Registry will
then not register anything on the property (for example a sale or a
new mortgage) unless a solicitor or other professional has certifi ed
they have checked your identity.

By taking these very simple steps it can make it much harder for
fraudsters to tamper with the title of your buy-to-let property.

See this article about more info about how land registry fraud can affect landlords.

Landlord insurance - professional rates available