I'm alarmed at the mortgage fraud that I read about in the
media, which seems especially common for properties that don't
have a legal charge registered against them. Is there anything I
can do to protect my property?
With the sophistication of fraud these days HM Land Registry and
even solicitors accounts cannot escape fraudsters trying to take
out fraudulent mortgages over your property, and unfortunately,
successfully getting away with it. This does pose a significant
risk to property owners, especially if you are mortgage free and if
you don't live in the property, but rent it out.
To combat this problem, the Land Registry offers two services
which help to reduce the risk of fraud. First you can apply to the
Land Registry for a restriction to be registered against your
property that states there can be no disposition of your property
at all without a certificate signed by a solicitor or conveyancer
stating that they are satisfied that the identification of
