Property fraud: vicar left shocked as his house is ‘stolen’

In an astounding case of fraud, a homeowner was told that he was 'trespassing' on his own property

It’s the phone call no homeowner ever wants to receive – the neighbours ringing to tell you there are people in your house.

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Reverend Mike Hall, a vicar who had been working away from home in north Wales, received such a call on 20 August.

Heading back to his house in Luton, pictured above, the following morning, Mr Hall was aghast to find that renovations were underway. To his horror, the builder told him the house had been bought by a new owner.

Mr Hall told BBC Radio Four’s consumer rights programme You and Yours of his shock at seeing his house stripped bare: “All furnishings, carpets, curtains – everything – was out of the property,” he said.

The builder alerted the father of the new owner, who arrived and told him: “It is now my property. You are now trespassing. Get out.”

Mr Hall found that indeed the new owner’s name had been added to the Land Registry as of 4 August.

Though police were contacted, they initially said there was no evidence of fraud, claiming it was a civil matter, but You and Yours found otherwise.

Its investigation discovered that Mr Hall had been a victim of identity theft and that his details had been used to sell the house and profit from the £131,000 sale.

You and Yours obtained a copy of the driving licence and details of the bank account used to carry out the fraud, which it then handed to Bedfordshire Police’s fraud squad, who are now investigating.

The Land Registry says it paid out £3.5 million in fraud compensation last year and that it relies on professional conveyancers to spot incidents of fraud but that each year it does still register a “very small number of fraudulent transactions.”

The house continues to be in the hands of the new owners, who bought it in good faith, while investigations continue.

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Photo: Reverend Mike Hall/BBC