For information on property prices go to www.homepriceguide.com.au
Michael McNamara is the General Manager of Australian Property Monitors, publisher of www.homepriceguide.com.au
Cars are stolen, bikes are stolen, money is stolen - that is common knowledge. But did you know houses can be stolen too? While it is near physically impossible for someone to pick up a house and take off with it, housing theft occurs in the way of title fraud. Although it is rarely reported, title fraud does happen. Over the years, I have bought and sold a few homes and the scary thing is I can't ever remember an agent ever asking me for identification. In fact I don't know any agents that do. Buyers and sellers beware - your home can be stolen. Here are some high profile examples. The most notorious case of alleged title fraud was, of course, the case where the Australian Rugby Union Headquarters was pretty much stolen in exchange for over $14 million in gold bullion. The would-be crooks claimed ownership of the property by forging the title deeds of 181 Miller Street in North Sydney back in 2006. The authorities only found out in time because the Perth Mint thought it all looked a bit too fishy when 605 one-kilogram gold bars were flown to Sydney. The actual owners had no idea their property had nearly been sold unt