Possible land scam

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Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2008 10:24 pm

I've just directed someone to this site from another forum I'm a member of, he had a curious query about someone with an 'enduring power of attorney'
from Chile, supposed to be representing a company selling land. He said it was not a registered company, couldn't google it and so on. It just rings warning bells in my head.

Has anyone come across this modality?

On the good side I think he has had the sense to ask questions before he parts with money. Yay!!!

Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2008 10:45 pm

He needs advice from a reputable and independent solicitor located in the country where the land is located.

It is not necessarily a 'red flag' and if he has legal advice from a competent and independent local solicitor he should discuss the consequences of dealing with someone operating under such a power of attorney.

UK law which may not be relevant does indicate that it is not straight forward, and it is important to have someone check the legality and authenticity of the Power of Attorney. Beyond that it would be necessary to establish that the person giving the Power of Attorney had sole rights to that property which would need to be established by a lawyer making local checks.

Quote:

Lasting power of attorney (LPA) in England and Wales
a LPA has no legal standing until it is registered with the Office of the Public Guardian

A lasting power of attorney is a legal document that lets you appoint someone you trust as an ‘attorney’ to make decisions on your behalf.

It can be drawn up at any time while you have capacity, but has no legal standing until it is registered with the Office of the Public Guardian.

A registered LPA can be used at any time, whether you have the mental ability to act for yourself or not.

You can create two types of LPA:

* Property and Affairs LPA
* Personal Welfare LPA

Property and Affairs LPA
A Property and Affairs LPA allows you to choose someone to make decisions about how to spend your money and the way your property and affairs are managed.

Personal Welfare LPA
A Personal Welfare LPA allows you to choose someone to make decisions about your healthcare and welfare. This includes decisions to refuse or consent to treatment on your behalf and deciding where you live. These decisions can only be taken on your behalf when the LPA is registered and you lack the capacity to make the decisions yourself.

This is not intended to be used as any form of guidanc but demonstrates that not all Enduring Powers of Attorny (LPA's) are the same, and its mere existence may not be enough to make it valid to authorise the transfer of property.

Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2008 10:52 pm

Thanks for that GP hopefully he's aware enough now to ask the question for himself. We can only warn them!

Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2008 1:31 pm

A copy of the email including headers (if it is an email, of course0 would be helpful. With any of the recipient's personal info blanked out.
Is it from a free webmail address?