Deeds of house appear to have been stolen - do I need to be concerned about this, fraud etc.

I am moving house to our holiday home which will be a permanent move. I kept the deeds of our Dublin home here in the holiday house, at the bottom of a fire proof filing cabinet, which wasn't locked as we had lost the key. The deeds were at the bottom of a pile of small boxes of old photographs, so would require a bit of rummaging to get them. I periodically checked that the deeds were there - the last time being when I was here on holidays for two weeks in July. Yesterday evening, I was going through paperwork from my Dublin house move, and came across bills for an extension and attic conversion and new boiler in 2011, which I wanted to put with my deeds for my Dublin home, in case we ever sell it, and there is a capital gain on it, which I can use these building costs to offset. However, when I went to the filing cabinet the deeds weren't there - searched all over the house, and nothing. Two people knew they were there, but the house is used about three times a year by friends - not for payment - and they bring friends with them. Do I need to have these deeds reconstituted - they are Land Registry? Is there a danger that someone can use my deeds for a fraudulent property transaction - put in their own names, take a mortgage out on them? What is the best course of action here?

Have you seen this:

Property registration and property fraud​

Tailte Éireann has a property alert service so property owners can monitor their registered properties for fraudulent activity. Property fraud could involve someone pretending to be you and trying to sell or mortgage your property without you knowing. If you sign up to the property alert service, you will get an email or text if someone lodges an application about your property with Tailte Éireann. If the activity is fraudulent you can take action. To find out more, or to sign up for the service, visit landdirect.ie.

https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/housing/owning-a-home/buying-a-home/property-deeds/

Thanks Des Pondent. I will try to set up a property alert on landdirect.ie. I am really upset about this.

Is there any chance the paperwork was brought back to the Dublin house by you is someone else? Maybe a search there too. I think you can rebuild lost deeds, but you probably need your solicitor to let you know the steps.

Are these the deeds of the house you've sold (or are selling)? Would you have given the deeds to your solicitor when the property was offered for sale?

It's most likely that they have been misplaced, rather than stolen. So they will probably turn up.

It is an expensive and time-consuming process to reconstitute them. So I wouldn't bother doing it unless you intend to sell it.

But if you do intend to sell it, start the process well in advance.

Brendan

Mothergoose said:

but the house is used about three times a year by friends - not for payment - and they bring friends with them.

Click to expand...

You should ask the friends.

It's probably best not to keep important documents in a holiday home where you have visitors.

Brendan

Thanks for all the replies. It want a good idea to leave them in a holiday home, but since my children moved out, I shared the family home with lodgers so that didn't feel like a safe space either. The deeds were from an estate that was built in 1993 - Land Registry - does anyone know roughly how much it woukd cost to reconstitute them. I guess my real worry was that someone could use them fraudently. Years ago, I did have the Deeds with a solicitor. Suddenly, when I wanted to take my deeds, there were bills frim him for all sorts of stuff, even though I had only done purchases and nothing else with him - and this made me wary of keeping them with a solicitor. The deeds were definitely stolen. I last checked them in the filing cabinet in July when I was home on holidays from aborad and went back abroad after - and they were there. I wasn't in the holiday home since then until yesterday. I am concerned as to take someone's deeds, a person would have to be up to no good with them.

Why don't you ask your friends who were in the house if they saw anything suspicious?

It's very odd and stupid to rob the deeds to a house. You can't do much, if anything, with them. But of course, the thief might not have known that at the time.

If you try to do something with them, of necessity, you leave a paper trail.

Brendan

Thanks, Brendan, that's reassuring about someone not being able to do anything with the Deeds without leaving a trail. I did put a property alert on Land direct.ie. I asked the people who were in the house over the summer if they or their friends had noticed anything, but it drew a blank, and I think they felt a bit accused though I did try to phrase my request in a non-accusayory manor.

If OP is going to reconstitute the deeds bundle it might be worth checking their household insurance policy.
Some household insurance policies provide cover for reconstituting lost deeds.
The cover is usually limited but it might help as this may be an expensive operation.

If engaging a solicitor to reconstitute a deeds bundle be sure to get a few quotes before issuing instructions to proceed.

P.S. AFAIK a deeds bundle is not like a bearer bond where the possessor can have legal authority over the paper.
Put another way, you cannot claim title to a property just because you found the title deeds.