[lbriner]

The Solicitor has no existing relationship with the real owner of the house. A bloke turns up and says they want to sell their house and has the correct Land Registry details and some ID, the solicitor does other checks and makes it all happen.

The illegal seller must have known that the owner was away for some time though because even if everything is ready, it usually takes at least 2 months to go through.

[iso1631]

Vast majority of house sales involve at least one of

* an estate agent

* a mortgage company (on the purchase or the sale)

* involve a sale at a market rate

* involve parties that know each other personally (family etc).

To not have any of those surely should raise a warning flag that "this requires a little more investigation" than a forged driving license. This wasn't an abandoned house being sold after being empty for several years.

[wongarsu]

But surely the land registry has an existing relationship with the real owner of the land? Isn't that the entire point of the land registry, to be able to contact and deal with the person who owns a particular piece of land?

[martyvis]

I purchased my property in 1989. Any contact detail for me in the land registry in NSW Australia would be the house where I lived and the phone number there. Neither would be valid and lead them to me specifically. I certainly have never had further contact with them or they with me. So if someone presents themselves as me with a government issued driver's licence at the property address they would be none the wiser. (You'd normally also need to present say a utility bill and a credit card to have enough points to prove identity)

[inglor_cz]

The land registry could theoretically ask the tax office for current valid contact details, because the tax office is likely to be in closer contact with you...