The Insolvency rules are extremely complex and this is one area of law where it makes sense to take legal advice, whether you are a creditor or debtor. the consequences of getting things wrong can be severe, especially in the corporate context, where a company which continues to trade when insolvent can result in personal liability for directors.

We are looking forward to seeing what new content appears on the Baring website. They tell us it’s their first online foray, as they have a solid client base and haven’t felt the need to seek work online in the past. the firm certainly appears to be highly rated if the client testimonials on the site are anything to go by.

Property Fraud may take many different forms, including using forged documents in order to obtain ownership or by impersonation of the owner of a property. Another common type of property fraud is by offering properties for sale at a reduced rate. These properties are often misrepresented or purchased off plan and then never completed. Other methods of property fraud include an activity known as buy-to-let fraud, whereby people are persuaded to invest in properties on the promise by a company that the property will be managed and rented. However, these properties are usually in bad condition and cannot be rented, and the company overcharges and then disappears. These are just some of the many examples of property fraud.

Mortgage Fraud

Mortgage fraud is simply any fraudulent activity that relates to a mortgage. This type of fraud is often carried out by well connected criminal organisations acting alongside solicitors, surveyors, accountants and other professionals. There are many different forms of mortgage fraud, including over valuing properties , misrepresenting financial information as part of a mortgage application, using fraudulently obtained identity to take out mortgages on behalf of other people and taking out several mortgages on one address. This list is non-exhaustive and there are a number of different forms of both property and mortgage fraud.

One of the most common examples of mortgage fraud involves using incorrect valuations. A mortgage is then taken out at the over-inflated value. The agreed repayments are then not met, and the properties are not maintained. In fact, they are often used for further criminal activities. After defaulting on the mortgage, the individuals then take out another mortgage on the same property through another lender in order to repay the first mortgage. As the price has been previously inflated, the amount received will cover the repayments, and often leave a substantial profit. This cycle is then repeated several times.

Land Registry

In order to try and mitigate any potential risk of mortgage fraud, it is advisable that individuals should register their properties with the Land Registry. Recent figures suggest that approximately twenty per-cent of property in England and Wales is still not registered. As the Land Registry is a government department, individuals who have suffered from property fraud may be compensated. In fact, in 2010, the Land Registry paid over four million pounds in compensation. In order to receive any compensation, the affected party will need to show that the documents used were indeed forged or fraudulently used. It is also important to note that the Land Registry has put a number of strategies in place to attempt to minimise the risk of fraud. These strategies and additional checking is not disclosed in order to ensure confidentiality. Further, the Land Registry works alongside the police and other bodies to try and reduce the risk. Further, when registering a property, it is vital to ensure that the Land Registry has correct contact details. This means that the Land Registry can contact the individual whenever it is necessary to do so.

Increase

The current economic climate has led to an increase in property and mortgage fraud, according to specialist investigations company Blackhawk. Recent research has shown that this increase is expected to continue in 2013. This is due to the fact that as debts continue to increase, individuals are more willing to commit fraud in order to attempt to clear their debts or give themselves a better chance of obtaining a property. The quality of forged documentation is increasing, and false documents are now more easily obtainable, especially from the internet. Technological advancements have meant that fake documents such as payslips and P60′s are being used more regularly. Further, mortgage lenders are now applying much stricter criteria and require a deposit to be higher, which in turn means that people are more likely to misrepresent financial information. Additionally, this increased use of technology has led to an increase in identity theft, something that is linked with fraud.

To highlight this clear increase, Experian, a global information services and credit scoring agency, predicts that in 2013 there will be thirteen per cent more fraudulent mortgage applications that 2012 and a twenty-six per cent increase from 2011.

At least Lloyd Green Solicitors, who are personal injury experts in Essex, want to put something back into society as the sponsorship of the Heart FM Essex campaign shows. The firm tells us, discreetly, that it assists other charities and it’s particular selling point is that it is a local law firm but one which offers a truly specialist personal injury service. To go along with that message, the firm has launched a new website, forthepeople.co.uk which is intended to offer the message that yes, whilst they are lawyers, they are human and that they are not simply pumping the compensation claim message.

Do you know of other solicitors with positive or charitable news associated with them ? If so, let us know and we may mention them.  Some positive press is deserved, just like criticism is sometimes deserved !

The hacking scandal in the UK has been very big news and ask most people about their views on News International, and probably most would have a negative view.

However, in strictly commercial terms the News International and Murdoch business empire is alive and kicking and in fact is doing very well. The company’s PR may have been severely damaged but when it comes to making all the right business moves, the business is very well run. It is also easy to forget that the newspaper publishing arm is only a very small sector of what this company does, and publishing newspapers is now far less profitable than was once the case, bearing in mind the use of the internet now. The real downside for News International was the impact of the News of the World scandal on any prospect of the company increasing it’s stake in BSkyB which is a very profitable business.

In general terms, shares of News Corp have scaled new highs. In the immediate wake of the hacking scandal, News Corp lost nearly a quarter of its market capitalization, a whopping $11 billion but the shares have rallied strongly and are have recouped those losses and added some gains as analysts see that the company has a strong balance sheet and some very attractive and profitable businesses.

People often think of social media as being primarily a young person’s activity, but social media covers a wide spectrum of sites, and whilst facebook may still be the forum of choice for more young people, surprisingly it seems that the over 45’s have taken to twitter in a big way. Perhaps this is because is is so user friendly and fast.

Research published on a Reuters blog has found that :-

• 45-54 year olds are over 35% more likely than average to visit Twitter
•  the number of unique visitors to twitter is up by a staggering 1,000% in the last year
• Twitter is becoming increasingly popular with retired people. Just over 5% of twitter users in the US are over 65.

As last night’s riots in Tottenham indicate, and as many of us have been saying for some time, society is in a mess. The riots in my view are indicative of a much wider problem.

With the pace of life and economic pressures ever increasing, we have all become increasingly detached from both family and local bonds which hold society together. When economic times are good, it feels ok to operate in our own little “bubble”. When economic times deteriorate, frustration grows and our “dog eat dog” mentality increases. This is evidenced on many levels but not least in the way we are now treating our neighbours, especially bearing in mind the age old precept of “love they neighbor”.

In the news this week, the Daily Mail reported that, incredibly,  neighbour disputes may have contributed to up to 1 million people in Britain moving house based on disagreements about maintenance works, noise,  boundaries, parking spaces.

The Mail also reported that :-

• 1 in 5 have had a  dispute with a neighbour in the last year
• 1 in 4 rarely speak to their next door neighbor
• 1 in 7 don’t know their neighbours names.

When you have this type of situation, it is no surprise that there are big problems in society. If we can’t even get on with our family or neighbours, what does this say about our society ?

One size does not fit all, so we will be finding our own news stories, whether relating to business, law, politics or other topics. Hopefully, you will like the selection we make and our summary of each item and keep coming back. Similarly, if you have an interesting news article, please let us know and we may well post or re-post it on this site. Enjoy.