A reverend who had his home and identity stolen has spoken out about the ordeal and said it will cost him £70,000 to renovate his home.
In 2021, Reverend Mike Hall found that somebody had sold his £131,000 house in Luton, which he had owned since 1990, when he returned home from Wales.
The Land Registry accepted fault in 2023 but when he returned that year a family was living there under a forged rental contract.
The drama first started for Mike in 2021, when a neighbour told him somebody was in his Luton home because all of the lights were on.
He drove back and found that his key did not work and another man, a builder, answered the door.
The builder had completely stripped his home of possessions including furniture, carpet and curtains.
Plaster had also been completely stripped from the walls, as well as a bedroom ceiling, bits of the kitchen and bathroom.
Mike said that the man was at the home doing building work, to which Mike said he had not sold the house and that it was his property.
The builder disappeared and it was at this point Mike called the police.
The builder later returned with the new owner who said he had bought the house and it was now his property.
Police initially said this was not a fraud case and it was a civil matter because Mike’s title had been taken off the Land Register, and the Land Registry said the new owner owned the house.
Recalling the moment this sunk in, Mike told Metro: ‘I was in shock.
‘To be told the greatest investment of your life is not fraud or a crime added insult to the injury. It felt wrong.
‘I was convinced it was a crime but police said it was a civil matter.’
But it turned out to be fraud because phone recordings of Mike were used to instruct his solicitors to sell the home.
Mike’s driving licence was also used to impersonate him and set up a bank account in his name to receive proceeds of the sale.
In short, criminals had managed to sell Mike’s house and got away with the money.
He said that it was easier for fraudsters to gain information during the pandemic and added: ‘People absolutely need to be aware of the dangers of fraud.
‘The system was not robust enough during Covid which was why this was enabled and happened.’
Mike managed to reclaim ownership of his home in 2023 but then found the young family there – a man and a woman with a young child.
At Luton county court on Monday, Mike appeared to take repossession of his home once again.
Lewis Colbourne, Mike’s lawyer, said this involved ‘two innocent parties in court’.
A woman, who followed the court hearing through a Romanian interpreter, and her child were also in attendance.
Judge Elaine Vignoli has now granted Mike a full possession order of the home for 14 days from now.
After the ordeal, Mike said: ‘I’m feeling mixed emotions, it has been a long journey but I won’t believe it until the family are out and I have the key.
‘The family are losing a home here as well. If they have not left after 14 days the bailiffs will be sent in.
‘Overall, it is going to cost me on average £70,000 to refit the home again to its previous standard.
‘After all of this, I don’t think I will be staying or living in the home.
‘It is time for a fresh start, a new lease of life for me.
‘My warning to people is to take care of your property, check your online registry, and credit check apps. You never know who might be targeting you.’
A Land Registry spokesperson told Metro: ‘Whilst cases of registration title fraud remain relatively rare, combatting them is a key priority for us and, over the last four complete financial years, we have prevented fraud on 220 properties worth over £135million.
‘Remaining vigilant is key to combatting fraud which is why we encourage all homeowners to sign up to alerts via our free property alert service.
‘HMLR has a statutory scheme of indemnity provided for in the Land Registration Act 2002 for losses resulting from errors or omissions on the register of title. We cannot comment on individual cases.’
Bedfordshire Police confirmed to Metro that while five people have been arrested since 2021, all have been released under investigation while enquiries continue.
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