Is this story true?

[silverfish]

https://trc.taboola.com/dailymail-uk/log...b4gBzMPGAQ

Can this really happen or is it a made up story?

[brunt]

The story appears to have some truth to it, given the number of major papers covering it: search results from duckduckgo.

While the police certainly could have done some more, it really is a civil matter at this point in time - the current "owner" has all the appearances of being the legitimate owner. And until such time as it can be shown that a criminal act has been committed, it shall remain a civil matter. At the very least, it would be trivial to issue an order to put a hold on the renovations.

The good reverend should indeed see his solicitor to get this sorted out post haste. It should be a simple matter for him to prove that he, and not the opportunistic seller, was the true owner of the property at the time of its supposed sale.

[wayniac]

Something similar happened in Melbourne. In this case, a con-woman transferred a title to a property from a person who was not deemed competent.

I bought an apartment to house my Mother in the UK. The whole transaction was done remotely with a conveyancing company. They were totally useless and the whole thing took forever, despite the fact that there was no mortgage involved.

Australia has a streamlined process, generally the conveyancers I have used have been excellent. I did do my own conveyancing a few years ago when I was strapped for cash, the biggest problem was the legal assistant for the bank I was dealing with, big 4 accounting company, bloody useless. I learnt a lot from that process and how it's all smoke and mirrors to make it look complex and therefore *expensive*.