Dreamvar has implications not only for conveyancers but for breach of trust claims. Claire-Marie Cornford and Sarah Smith explain ‘The Court of Appeal held that the purchase monies should have remained in the vendor’s solicitor’s client account pending either a genuine completion of the sale or further instructions from the purchaser’s solicitors.’ The recent case …
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Dreamvar has implications not only for conveyancers but for breach of trust claims against professional trustees. Claire-Marie Cornford and Sarah Smith explain ‘It was accepted that there had been failures in the identification checks undertaken by OWC and MMS; however, in both cases the claims against the vendors’ solicitors were dismissed at first instance on …
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In Dreamvar the purchaser’s solicitor was found liable for fraud by the ‘vendor’. Timothy Polli argues the logic of the decision ‘The effect of the decision is that the integrity of the conveyancing process (prior to registration of title) is underwritten by the conveyancing profession.’The case of Dreamvar (UK) Ltd v Mishcon de Reya [2016] …
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Should a vendor’s solicitor be under the same scrutiny as those representing the purchaser? Mary Young and Ben Hillman discuss ‘The Law Society Property and Registration Fraud Practice Note asserts the need for caution, as criminals will always attempt to exploit weaknesses in lending and conveyancing systems.’ Victims of identity theft or modern scams frequently …
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Paul Marshall discusses a case which explores relief from liability for breach of trust under the Trustee Act 1925 ‘Where a vendor’s solicitor has not complied with the requirements of the AML Regulations it will be difficult to escape strict liability for the consequences of breach of trust where their client is a fraudster, however …
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Wills & Trusts Law Reports | July/August 2016 #161The claim arose from a purported sale of a property to the claimant by a fraudster who purported to be, but was not in fact, the registered owner of the property. By the time the fraud was discovered the whole of the purchase price had been paid by the claimant to the second defendant (the claimant’s conveyancer), by the second defendant to the first defendant (the fraudster’s solicitor) and by the first defendant to an account in Dubai upon the fraudster’s instructions.
The fraudster’s instructions to the first defendant were that the property had been given to him by his father,...
Property fraud is on the up, and recent cases highlight the importance of vigilance by solicitors, especially when dealing with vulnerable clients. Jayne Elkins and Karen McGinley investigate ‘Generally, there is less risk of fraud with registered land than with unregistered property, as although the registers are open, there are various steps a registered proprietor …
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