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04 April 2012 / Kevin Dick
Issue: 7509 / Categories: Features , Fraud , Property
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The housing racket

Kevin Dick follows the fight against conveyancing fraud

A recent story on Mail Online (ìFamily forced out of dream home after lawyers run off with their £400,000 life savings they used to buy property, 19 March 2012) carries a salutary reminder (if any were needed) that the risks facing house buyers can have very heavy consequences.

Requiem for a dream

The article quotes the case of an unsuspecting couple who fell foul to the greed of a highly unscrupulous solicitor in a conveyancing transaction that went spectacularly awry and robbed them of their dream home.
 
Everything seemed to be going well. The transaction was completed and the couple moved into their new home. Six months later, it transpired they owned nothing. The solicitor acting on behalf of the seller (who had also conveniently omitted to disclose the fact that the seller owed the bank huge sums of money) had absconded with the £400,000 the couple had paid for the property, forcing the buyers to vacate their home and leaving them with
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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Switalskis—Sally Ann Masih, Suzy Overton & Jane Beaumont

Switalskis—Sally Ann Masih, Suzy Overton & Jane Beaumont

Trio of recruits strengthens Switalskis residential property team

Ward Hadaway—Steven Hayward

Ward Hadaway—Steven Hayward

Birmingham law firm appoints construction partner

Flint Bishop—six appointments

Flint Bishop—six appointments

Flint Bishop accelerates Northern growth through strategic senior appointments

NEWS
A High Court decision has clarified that a home may be unfit for human habitation not only where conditions endanger health or safety, but also where they seriously undermine comfort and convenience

A longer time limit for employment tribunal claims, new charity law thresholds, property tribunal recruitment and appellate guidance on small-claims costs feature in the latest Civil Way round-up

A recent High Court ruling could make issue estoppel considerably more complex in cross-border litigation, requiring parties to consider the foreign law governing the underlying claim
The Supreme Court has overturned Cheshire West’s bright-line test for deprivation of liberty, replacing it with a broader, more contextual assessment that gives greater weight to an individual’s wishes, feelings and apparent consent
Jonathan Fisher KC’s wide-ranging fraud report contains worthwhile proposals, but turning them into workable reform will require money, capacity and political will
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