A property company has made a substantial claim that in excess of £31m has been paid out by the Land Registry in just the last three years, in relation to fraudulent property deeds.
Payments
The company in question, Titlesolv, proclaims it has used Freedom of Information requests that show that £23.3m worth of claims were sent to the Land Registry in 2014. Since the beginning of 2012, the Land Registry’s Indemnity Fund has received in excess of £59m in claims, and has paid out more than £31m against these them.[1]
Titlesolv found that some of the claims made related to the perceived theft of a property owner’s identity and the attempted raising of an unenforceable mortgage against a home.
Data from the requests shows that the Land Registry has dealt with or paid a growing number of the claims that it receives, increasing from 78% of claims lodged in 2012, to in excess of 86% in 2014.[1]
Value
With this said, the actual proportion of the value of claims approved has fallen substantially overt the same time period, from around 80% in 2012 to less than 36% in 2014.[1]
If, as expected, interest rates rise in the coming months, Titlesolv believes that more claims will arise. A company spokesman said, ‘if these mortgages become unenforceable, the Registry-and the public purse-are vulnerable to claims of negligence.’[1]
[1] https://www.estateagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2015/8/title-fraud-costing-land-registry-millions–claim