Man 'flabbergasted' after scammers sell his home

Jim Goose · 12-09-2010, 02:26 PM

Well seeing as most people in a particular thread are calling for the hanging of tow truck drivers and geriatric old people because of a simple mistake...

Heres some perspective people....

Quote:

Man 'flabbergasted' after scammers sell his home

Updated 1 hour 56 minutes ago

A Perth man's house has been sold by scammers

Roger Mildenhall was living overseas when he found out that his property had been sold in June. (7pm TV News WA)

* Map: Karrinyup 6018
* Related Story: Perth man scammed out of his home

A Perth man whose house was sold without his knowledge says he was "flabbergasted" when he heard the news.

Roger Mildenhall was living overseas when he found out last week that his property in Karrinyup which, was worth almost $500,000, had been sold in June.

He returned to Perth to find a second property he owned was also about to be sold.

Mr Mildenhall says scammers emailed his real estate agent saying he wanted to sell and even produced duplicates of the deeds to the house.

"It's been done electrically (sic) using faxes and emails and mobile phones and they have been backwards and forwards to my agent using an internet cafe," he said.

He says his neighbour told him about the sale last week and he returned to Perth just in time to stop the sale of the second property.

"They said that the house that was my rental property, had already been sold and that the locks had been changed in my own home and that was about to be sold as well," he said.

Mr Mildenhall has hired a lawyer in an attempt to get his property back and police are also investigating the scam.

Consumer Protection Commissioner Anne Driscoll says it is not yet known how the scammers succeeded.

"This is a very rare event; I'm not aware of another occasion where this has happened and it's therefore absolutely critical that settlement agents and real estate agents verify carefully that the person they're organising a sale for is actually the owner of the property," she said.

"The details of the scam need to be fully investigated for us to understand exactly what happened and how this dupe actually was so effective."

Real Estate Institute West Australian (REIWA) spokeswoman Anne Arnold said yesterday that agents need to be vigilant.

"It is increasingly going online and you have investors who own properties from abroad and they own properties in WA and you are reliant on email," she said.

"It is a really important message that you need to be doubly careful if it's overseas."

She says changes may have to be made to prevent future scams.

"The Real Estate board and REIWA would look at the need for agents to do a little bit more work around identity, but it does raise a lot of implications for agency practice so I guess we've got to think about that," she said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2...12/3009345.htm

AussieAV · 12-09-2010, 02:43 PM

Surley the tow truck driver would have checked the rego before towing the house away!!!

Airmon · 12-09-2010, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AussieAV

Surley the tow truck driver would have checked the rego before towing the house away!!!

Yep and this poor bloke should be getting at least half a mill in damages off someone for the stress involved.....

Seriously though, will be interesting to see how this pans out for all parties involved.

Maggot · 12-09-2010, 07:28 PM

The settlement agents will (and should) wear the costs for this.

Happened to my brother years ago.. where the chap that was selling the house did not actually own it -but had the title deeds... but the sett agents picked it up (as they should).

EB# · 13-09-2010, 07:08 AM

This one looks a bit dodgy from all angles !

MAD · 13-09-2010, 10:33 AM

Will the people that purchased the property get charged with possession of stolen goods?

Yellow_Festiva · 13-09-2010, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MAD

Will the people that purchased the property get charged with possession of stolen goods?

Highly doubt it. Unless they were in on the scam and knew they they were buying under false pretences.

FG XR · 14-09-2010, 11:46 AM

he no longer owns the house as he doesnt hold the title anymore. HOWEVER there is nothing stopping him from suing the company who sold the house etc etc as his signatures are completely different and im not sure why the settlement agents didnt pick this up let alone the real estate agent who was renting the house out now sold it. Shouldnt she have known the person who was selling wasnt the real owner? Think she was just after a quick sale!

Its the 8th case this year in WA alone. None of those houses have being recovered however likei said there is nothing stopping the now former owner from suing both parties involved (ie real estate agent and the company who did the settlement).

Police think they were nigerian scammers but would have to have some inside help as they had to much information on this poor bloke.

The real estate agent who sold the house also tried to put a sale through on his other property (his OWN house this time) but he was able to stop that sale before settlement went through, the locks were changed and thats it.

That real estate company is screwed.

Reiwa ALREADY has things in place i.e view drivers licence etc before sale / rent. Its being in place for years but for some reason this real estate agent did not do this. Like i said before she obviously wanted a quick sale for commission but all she has done is blacklisted herself and the company from anyone looking to sell or rent their houses with them from here on in. Not to mention if the owner sues they will go under.

AussieAV · 14-09-2010, 01:33 PM

What about Landgate (The govt. dept. in charge of land titles in WA).

The Title Deed is supposed to be ultimate proof of ownership, and no land transactions can be done without it. So what do they do, re-issue a new one to facilitate the transaction, obviously without properly verifying the owner.

If I were this guy, Landgate would be my first port of call for compensation!!