What is she up to?

[DontVisitCabotCove]

DB, his partner “Jane” & her 2 kids have been staying with me - in my house - after the house they were buying fell through. They had been looking at other properties to buy but have since decided to end their relationship so that’s no longer happening.

Yesterday while my DB and I were out and unbeknownst to me, Jane had an estate agent over to value my house & as he was leaving he told her he’d send her an email with the valuation & they were talking about viewings etc.

Today Jane asked me to give her a letter stating that my brother is living here but wouldn’t tell me why she wanted it & was really unhappy when I said I’d give her a letter saying they were both temporarily staying with me as that’s the actual truth.

What on earth could she be up to? I’m honestly baffled!

Should I tell her that I know about the valuation? Should I tell my DB about all of this?

On one hand I don’t want to get involved in their troubles or make things worse (things are bad enough between them already) but on the other hand I feel I’m being drawn into it as it’s my bloody house she had valued!

My mouth is hanging open at the sheer audacity of this woman!! Good God, she’s got some cheek!!
Wishing you peace and a resolution that gets her away from you and DB as quickly as possible!!
💐OP x

Fraud prevention

The Land Register for your property permits up to 3 contact addresses. These are used to notify you of any action on your property. The best practice is to have an email as one of the addresses as emails are far harder to intercept than snail mail. This is a free service https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/updating-registered-owners-contact-address

I would advise everyone to do this not only for your own home but also vulnerable family members. Even if they don’t have an email address use yours.

@DontVisitCabotCove as Jane has set up an email address in your name I would do this promptly. I would also be checking my credit record regularly as you really don’t know what Jane accessed whilst under your roof. I would also consider changing passwords on accounts etc.

Several people have posted the property alert service https://www.gov.uk/guidance/property-alert Again add vulnerable family members properties as well.

Empty properties are the prime target for fraud. Always set up a Royal Mail redirection https://www.royalmail.com/personal/receiving-mail/redirection if your or a relatives home is empty for a significant period.

Definitely check the Ring footage to see whether Jane was expecting the EA when he arrived.

I suppose it is possible she is telling the truth and someone else is trying to steal your identity and sell the house and Jane wanted the letter for benefits to prove that she is no longer living with your DB. That might explain why she was cagey about the letter.

I can’t think what the letter would be useful for apart from that… Unless she could use it to fraudulently claim carer’s allowance in your DB’s name? If she just wanted your signature, she wouldn’t care what you wrote.

I would be checking my credit file and his in case she has taken out loans in your or his name. Do you have a passport etc? Could she have got ID in your name with her photo? If she was planning on selling your house, she would need an account in your name for the money to be paid in to.I’d also be checking with Royal Mail that she hasn’t set up a mail redirect.

Although, who inherits the money in your bank accounts? Is it your DB? It seems mad for her to think that she would get away with selling your house fraudulently… if you are going to commit that type of crime, you would want to have nothing linking you to the property you are selling fraudulently. Are you sure your DB isn’t in on it and plan is to sell the house at the last minute so the asset is liquidated while you are still alive and the cash goes to whoever inherits your money so the person you have left the house to doesn’t inherit? Probably not… more likely she is criminally minded but stupid 😂

I would be very careful going forward, if Jane is moving to a rental property which requires a homeowner to stand as guarantor (not unusual, especially of she is a low earner or claiming benefits) then she could have named you as her guarantor and be trying to get a valuation to hand in to prove your asset.

Seriously, it's shocking isn't it?!!!
First of all posters can't read and keep making reference to DBro paying maintenance for the kids that aren't his, now Jane is pregnant with a fictitious child 😳

Why did the EA tell her he'd send HER an email with the valuation and discuss viewings with her if they knew she was just a family member letting them in, as you were in hospital?

If the estate agents believed they were dealing with you, then you have a right to the telephone number and email address on your file as your personal information. Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR states that you are entitled to a copy of all information that a company hold about you legally and if they fail to comply you can complain to the information commissioners office (ICO) and potentially they can get fined. I recommend that you email the estate agents and say under DPA2018 and UK GDPR you are requesting a copy of all information they hold in regards to you and your house valuation. This is called a subject access request and legally they have to provide you with all information they hold about you within 30 days. You will at least then have the information about the phone number and email to pass to police if required (although police can also obtain this information from the estate agent if they are investigating for you)
sorry you’re having to go through this with everything else you have going on, I just thought I’d let you know they do have to give you that information so don’t let them fob you off

I wonder whether the email named Jane as OP's agent?

"As far as the estate agents are concerned, they did nothing wrong as they were genuinely trying to be accommodating considering my health and didn’t actually supply a valuation or do any marketing without all the necessary checks first."

This is one of the problems that arise from estate agents not being regulated in the same way that solicitors, accountants and other professions are.

OP, I would seriously think about writing to your MP with this story and giving it as an example as to WHY the profession of estate agents (and, indeed, the whole issue of the private ownership of real estate) needs to be better regulated by Parliament. Heck, you might even end up starting the process which gives us a "Jane's law".

I would tell the estate agents that you are doing this and, believe me, they will soon pull out their fingers and get this matter solved to your benefit.

Take care and all the best. xxx

OP said the EA stated they received a phonecall from somebody pretending to be her saying a family member would let them in as she couldn't make the appointment. No mention of somebody acting on her behalf.

A tennant did this to me to get a valuation on my house because they wanted to buy it. I was furious when I found out. Could it be that she was after a free valuation as she assumed your DB would inherit it?

Just ask her what she's up to.

I'm so sorry you are having to deal with this whilst being so unwell.

As someone else has said, this does feel incredibly sinister.

I would definitely update the police and report her for both identity theft and fraud. The fact that she set up an email address in your name shows she planned to do something untoward and I would be asking the police to investigate which IP address the email to the EA came from.

Hopefully the locks have been changed and please do not give her one stick of furniture!

This. I once almost completed on a house where the seller didn't have legal right to sell the property as he wasn't on the title deeds at all and shockingly my rubbish solicitors never picked up on it earlier. He'd been forging documents and signatures, obv had copies of the victims id. If I hadn't gone through all the paperwork myself, the poor owner would have been off the title deeds and I guess I'd have lost the house eventually as it wasn't a lawful sale.

People are capable of awful things when it comes to money and property - I would get her out of your home and have a word with the estate agent that she is NOT the lawful owner and you are not selling. Put an alert for any land registry changes too.

Absolutely. Please update your report to the police.

Well if someone can sell a house that doesn't belong to them (it was in the news) then I'm certain they can find a way of fraudulenty finding a guarantor....

You don’t need this stress with your health problems. Shame on Jane, whatever she was up to, you have won, you can hold your head up high and hopefully she will be out of your life for good. Best of luck 💐

Sign up your Title with the free HM Land Registry Property Alert service and also put a restriction on your title so property cannot be sold without your active consent,this costs one off £40

@YankeeDad obviously isn't letting the truth stand in the way of a good lie.

This.

The brass neck of Jane! She is lying to your face! Get her out now!!!

I hope your DB is packing her bags and getting her the fuck out OP.

And I hope you're okay. This must be quite frightening!

She’s crazy

Op of course it's bloody Jane. Who else knows about you being in hospital at the time. At least you can be happy that she is a low iq criminal to have said this to the ea. As pp said, restrictions, alerts on land registry, report to police and file freedom of info request to ea to get the phone number. Disgusting vulture to have done this to an ill woman. Sorry op...