TITLE GUARDIAN: THE NEW SMART TECHNOLOGY THAT CAN STOP A HOME BEING STOLEN
The launch of Title Guardian, a ground-breaking new technology that protects homeowners from the growing threat of property-related frauds, is announced today.
This new solution monitors digital sources, such as property portals and government databases, including HM Land Registry and Companies House, where an owner’s details appear and where property fraud commences. If suspicious activity is detected, the homeowner receives instant alerts via SMS, email and app notification so any potential fraud threat can be stopped.
Property fraud takes several forms. The most severe is title fraud, which occurs when the availability of homeowners’ data on HM Land Registry is exploited to steal ownership of property. Due to vulnerabilities in the property system, it’s possible a fraudster can impersonate a homeowner, transfer a property’s ownership title and then sell it, without the owner’s knowledge. Other threats include unknowing homeowners having their addresses used by bogus companies that are set up for criminal purposes. The fallout from this can be difficult to fix. Title Guardian is the first solution on the market to proactively protect homeowners and landlords against these threats and alert them at the earliest opportunity.
Until now, the only alternative protection against title fraud has been to sign up to HM Land Registry’s property alert service, which sends an email to a property owner if someone applies to change the register of a property. However, by this stage, the fraud has often already been successfully executed, before this retrospective alert reaches a homeowner.
There is a risk to all property owners. The risks increase where property is not mortgaged, is rented out or is empty – these circumstances can increase the opportunity for criminals to access materials that lead to property fraud.
“Today marks an important development for property owners – and the industry as a whole” comments John Daw, Title Guardian’s CEO. “It’s widely known that the industry’s processes require significant modernisation and digitisation. One key area requiring action is to address how unsecure the property market is.”
“The availability of homeowner data on the government’s open register naturally creates risks, as that data can be sold to anyone, including those with criminal intent. Government organisations like Companies House and the DVLA can also unintentionally assist frauds, where checks on activities are not robust. So, after a successful beta phase, we’re pleased we can now bring this important technology to market, to provide much needed protection against these threats”.
Law firms, estate agents and mortgage lenders can embed Title Guardian into their own offerings – providing protection both for their clients, and themselves.
“Title Guardian provides a new-level of protection for property owners. The fraud threat to homeowners is significant and the consequences of title fraud are of course severe”, comments Stuart Forsdike, founder of leading property law firm PCS Legal and advisor to Title Guardian. “Plus, we’ve seen numerous cases of homeowners’ addresses being used to set up fraudulent companies at Companies House, which can be time-consuming and costly to correct. So, to now have a solution that addresses these risks is a real positive.”
“At PCS Legal, we’ve been an early adopter and the technology has proved its worth quickly – two clients have been alerted to potential fraud threats already. It helps reduce our own risks of potential claims relating to frauds and, most importantly, adds extra value to our clients. It’s easy to set up and the Title Guardian team have supported a seamless rollout to many clients. I think every law firm needs to be drawing their clients’ attention to the potential risks of property fraud and recommending they take action to protect themselves,” Forsdike concludes.
Daw points out that the role of technology in the home is now commonplace. “Smart technology can protect many aspects of a property – security solutions like Ring and home devices like Hive and Alexa protect contents, bricks and mortar effectively”, said Daw. “Our smart technology is a natural extension of this tech suite, going one step further by protecting home ownership. And there’s nothing more important, or valuable, than that.”
The well-documented title fraud case of a Bedfordshire Reverend, Mike Hall, whose house was stolen in 2021, was a key catalyst for developing the solution. A team of proptech entrepreneurs architected Title Guardian, which aggregates multiple data sets from across the property and government digital ecosystem. Monitoring these data sources provides a proactive, always-on layer of protection not previously available to property owners.
Had Title Guardian been protecting Reverend Hall’s property, he would never have had to go through that ordeal – the fraud would have been detected and stopped.
“Previous cases have helped shaped Title Guardian, so we have a robust, proactive solution that protects homeowners and landlords, and helps law firms, mortgage lenders and estate agents to protect their clients too” concludes Daws. “We’ll keep evolving our solution to combat future threats, so title fraud can be eradicated.”
Title Guardian is now available to all homeowners and landlords in England and Wales on mobile app, with the desktop version online from 1st January 2024. A home can be protected on an annual subscription for £49.99 a year. The Title Guardian app is available to download on the App Store and Google Play.
Find out more at titleguardian.com.