Landgate has released a new Caveat in response to community concern arising after Western Australian property owners have fallen victim to fraudulent property transactions.

In the past 12 months, two Perth homeowners have had their properties sold by strangers connected with an international fraud ring based in Nigeria. The homeowners were completely unaware of the transactions until the sales were completed.

Last year, Mr Andrew Mildenhall fell victim to the scam when his Karrinyup investment property was sold without his knowledge. Mr Mildenhall was residing in Cape Town at the time.

Despite the fraud, Mr Mildenhall is unable to have the transaction reversed and must now commence action to seek compensation from the state government. The law protects the rights of the third party who purchases the property in these situations.

It appears that another couple have fallen victim to the same scam between February and April this year, their property being sold unbeknownst to them whilst they were overseas.

Police believe that both incidents may be linked, stemming from a sophisticated international fraud ring operating out of Nigeria.

In response to community concerns, Landgate are now offering a new Improper Dealings Caveat for property owners. The Caveat will stop the registration of any document which would ordinarily need to be signed by the land owner including transfers of land, mortgages and leases.

The Caveat can be prepared and lodged with Landgate by the owner of a property or by a solicitor acting on their behalf.

In the case of multiple owners, all owners must sign and lodge the Caveat together or jointly instruct a solicitor to lodge the Caveat on their behalf. If one owner does not agree, then the Caveat cannot be lodged.

To withdraw the Caveat, all owners must attend the Landgate office in Midland and provide 100 points of identification.

Clearly, the recent scams illustrate a need for tighter regulation of the property settlement and real estate industries to ensure more rigorous identification checks during sale transactions. Measures to ensure that agents are actually dealing with the legitimate owner of a property prior to selling a property have become imperative.

Absent tighter regulation, the Improper Dealings Caveat may provide peace of mind for land owners, especially those who are planning on being away from their property for a long period of time.