There are two stories that need writing. One I cannot do until late Monday, because civil servants do not work on the weekend (weird). The other one is about fraud. The CBC alerted me to ‘It’s happened again. 2nd Toronto home listed for sale without homeowner’s knowledge’ (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/fraudulent-home-sale-1.6710868) and the problem is actually a lot worse than they think it is. You see, I remembered and found ‘Arrest after Luton clergyman reports his home stolen’ (at https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-59167750) in November 2021. This has been going on for well over a year and when I see “We work with professional conveyancers, such as solicitors, and rely on them and the checks that they make to spot fraudulent attempts to impersonate property owners. Despite our efforts, every year we do register a very small number of fraudulent transactions.” And when I see this my blood curdles towards psychotic. When we see “rely on them”, I understand, but in the same breath I say that if at that point the conveyancer CANNOT show proper documentations and proper diligence he gets to lose his license for life. I am so sick of this casual approach to responsibilities (you will learn on Monday or Tuesday). It is time to change this level of stupidity. If these players no matter who cannot show due diligence, they lose their licence for life. These players all want ease, they want the internet and as such people lose their houses and their stuff, we need to change that game and we need to change it by a lot. The CBC gives us “the case bears a striking resemblance to an investigation the Toronto Police Service (TPS) asked for the public’s help with last week, in which another family wasn’t so lucky”. First of all, I am not blaming the Toronto Police Service. But the stage of ease of sale and ease of buying property needs to stop. In the old days there ere actuaries and perhaps we need to revisit that stage, they were truly diligent. The world is so much about reduction of sales cycle and now we see that people are getting hurt and some excuse that it is a mere few cases does not hold water. The victims lose to much, even if the damage is undone, the damage is close to permanent and something needs to be done. Perhaps it needs to be more draconian, but I feel strong about someone losing THEIR castle. So when I see “CBC News has reported on numerous allegations of fake identifications and other documents being used to rent homes and take out fraudulent mortgages, but these attempted home thefts appear to take real estate fraud to an alarming new level” I see that the system is failing and it is failing in the UK and in Canada. So we need a new stage, we need new systems of control and the stage of “this is easier” is no longer acceptable. Easy got the grifters and the scammers in, that needs to stop and the conveyancers are a first step, but merely a first. A lot more needs to be done and it needed to be started well over a year ago.
Perhaps I am overreacting, but the idea of my place to be sold from under me when I go on vacation is a nightmare I never want to face and if that means deleting some overly non-diligent people, then so be it.
Enjoy Sunday.
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