A reverend whose house was sold without his knowledge by a fraudster is on the verge of regaining possession after nearly four years.
Mike Hall’s life was upended after the scammer successfully applied for a duplicate of his driving licence.
It enabled them to set up bank accounts and instruct solicitors in his name before the house in Luton, Bedfordshire, was sold for £131,000 while he was working away.
The Land Registry admitted indemnity and put his name back on the deeds in 2023 after the person who had purchased the three-bedroom property finally agreed to move out.
But Rev Hall discovered a family had taken up residence after signing a bogus tenancy contract and he has spent the last 17 months going through the legal process of evicting them.
At Luton County Court on Monday, Judge Elaine Vignoli granted him possession within 14 days.
However, he says the whole house will have to be ‘gutted’ after years of neglect and a flood in the kitchen, so it could be months before it is habitable again.
Rev Hall told the Mail: ‘It’s made me conscious of just how vulnerable we really are when it comes to fraudsters because often they are two steps ahead of the organisations that look into these things.’
He continued: ‘Every official document can be changed and that’s a real concern to me. Driving licence, passports – anything with my personal ID – I guard carefully.’
Rev Hall, 57, was working in Wales in August 2021 when a neighbour informed him the lights were on in his house, which he had bought in 1990, and someone was there.
He raced back and found the unsuspecting new ‘owner’ carrying out building work.
Describing the scene, he said: ‘I tried my key in the front door, it didn’t work and a man opened the front door to me – and the shock of seeing the house completely stripped of furniture… everything was out of the property.’
It emerged the scammers had applied to the Driving and Vehicle Licence Agency for a duplicate licence in his name, opening the doors for them to operate under his identity.
The complicated process of reclaiming his property appeared to have ended in November 2023 when the innocent purchaser, who had refused to hand the house back, backed down just before a court case.
The man is understood to have been compensated by the Land Registry.
The Land Registry also admitted it was at fault for allowing the sale to go through and for Rev Hall’s name to be removed from the deeds.
But when he went to inspect the house, he found a couple and their two children had moved in and they also refused to leave.
Rev Hall estimates around £8,000 has been spent on the legal process to evict them and around £70,000 will be needed for extensive renovations – all payable by the Land Registry, he said.
But he has lost a five-figure sum on rental income on the property, which he was told he couldn’t claim back.
‘There’s nothing in the Land Registry Act that entitles me to claim for emotional damage, loss of income – nothing like that. It should be changed,’ he said previously.
Bailiffs are due to attend the property within the next fortnight to evict the family squatting at the address.
The Land Registry and Bedfordshire Police were approached for comments.
A Land Registry spokeswoman said: ‘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 £135m.’
Bedfordshire Police confirmed five people had been arrested in connection with Rev Hall’s case since 2021. All have been released under investigation while enquiries continue.