Highland Titles Fake "Laird Scheme" Review Website

As if using fake newspaper articles to promote their fake titles fake land sales scheme wasn't bad enough, it seems Highland Titles may have sunk, if that is possible, even lower. Recently revealed over at the scots-titles.com forum, it is alleged that Highland Titles are behind a website which claimed to be giving impartial reviews of various "laird schemes". The website was lairdreviews.com which was pulled down shortly after it was claimed on the scots-titles.com forum that Highland Titles were in fact behind it, though the site is now up again.

Update

The fake review website at lairdreviews.com has just undergone an overhaul. The trolls page which was used to abuse critics of these schemes has now gone entirely, as have all the fake contact details, there are currently no contact details at all ..... Update - The Trolls page is now back.

Read the forum posts by Andrew and PetePiper

Rather annoyingly for Highland Titles, an email address seemingly belonging to Helen McGregor of Highland Titles (helenmcgregor55.gmail.com) appeared on a little known record called the SOA Record for lairdreviews.com

The name server for the domain was also changed immediately after the forum posts. As noted above, before the change, the name server for lairdreviews.com was NS1.17135745287.COM.

This name server was used at that time for four domains:

LAIRDREVIEWS.COM reviews (en) laird (en)
ALDERNEYBELLS.COM Alderney (en) bells (en)
GLENCOEWOOD.COM Glencoe (en) wood (en)
CIBELLS.COM bells (en) ci (fr)

The name server change can be seen here

All the above domains except lairdreviews.com are registered to the Bevis family who run Highland Titles.

http://whois.polodomains.com/nameserver/NS1.17135745287.COM/1.html

 The email address helenmcgregor55@gmail.com can be associated with the following domains:

lairdreviews.com
ehic-support.org
fakescotstitles.com
sar.co.uk
glencoewood..com
aldeneybells.com
cibells.com

https://www.google.co.uk/?gws_rd=cr&ei=44JlUr3MHfHY4QS94YGACA#filter=0&q=helenmcgregor55.gmail.com&start=0

The site itself gave glowing reviews of Highland Titles, while being a little, and in some cases, a lot less kind to competing company's offerings.

(As an act of common decency I have obscured any real names from the review quotations below.)

Quotations from the Monarch Of The Ben - Laird Of Ben Nevis review ....

"suggests that the owners are trying to evade paying tax and we would certainly not want to do business with such a Company"

"A****  M**** is well known to Trading Standards and a journalist colleague that we consulted "

On Highland Heritage - Laird Of Glenmore / Laird Of Kingsdale ..... 

"Domains by Proxy are owned by B**** P****, and his services are used by shady grops who wish to protect their privacy from the taxman, customers, Trading Standards, etc."

"They also trade on eBay, where they share that forum with some rather dubious vendors and some very unlikely titles."

 On Native Wood Preservation -  Laird Of Blackwood ....

"The first disappointment comes with a page describing the land on offer – Loch Wood by the village of Blackwood. Blackwood sits adjacent to the M74 motorway – Scotland’s main arterial route South to England. It is no more in the Highlands than London and being a Laird is all about the Highlands"

On Mac Sothis - Laird Of John O' Groats ....

"The order process is incredibly basic with room for error and only payment by Paypal is accepted.  We are always wary of shops that only take PayPal; lots of internet scams make use of PayPal"

Of course the Highland Titles offering is described in glowing terms ....

"Our email was replied to within 20 minutes and a follow-up telephone call was answered second ring by a helpful human.  If only all the businesses were like Highland Titles"
(Eh..... it took 20 minutes to answer an email they sent to themselves!!)

Then there was the "Trolls" page, which was nothing more than a personal attack on John Duncan and William (Robin) Cunninghame Graham, completely misrepresenting their positions and making claims they use multiple identities and produce multiple blogs without a shred of evidence in support. Currently the page is still available via the Google cache here.

Should the site vanish again it may be available via the Google cache, follow this link, click the little arrow to the right of the domain name, and click on "Cached".

I find it completely hilarious, there is much evidence to support the theory that Highland Titles use multiple identities all over the internet, and have allegedly produced several blogs to support their scams and attack people they don't like ..... but always somehow "forget" to put their name on them. Yet that same accusation about others is made on a fake review website without a single example of any specific instances to support the allegations made!

Fake newspaper articles ... fake review websites ... accusation that others are trolls when Highland Titles are seemingly using a fake review site to promote their own products and make the competition look very unappetising .... can it get any worse?

Highland Titles Scam Snubbed By Glencoe Cafe

Highland Titles are always trying to make out that they are well supported locally, without providing much evidence of that of course. It seems they are not at all popular with the proprietor of the rather excellent Glencoe Café in Glencoe Village, as attested to by a post on the Glencoe Café Facebook page back in August 7th 2013.

Glencoe Café
7 Aug 2013
Regrettably, after receiving a number of enquiries from concerned local customers. Glencoe Cafe would like to make it clear that it has no association or connection what so ever with the company Highland Titles, its employees or its volunteers. Nor does it support or condone the trading practices of the said company.

 It would seem that the Glencoe Café was worried about being associated with Highland Titles through their ex employee Stewart Borland from Ballachulish who was gullible enough (I had thought Stewart was smarter than to fall for the Highland Titles guff) to become Highland Titles' meet and greet lackie.

So worried about losing local customers through that association to issue a clarification of their real position on their Facebook page.

Local support in Glencoe for Highland Titles? .... Don't think so!

A great big thank you from me and the residents of Glencoe to the Glencoe Café, for making it quite clear that Highland Titles are not welcome in Glencoe.

Do You Get A Laird Lord Or Lady Title By Buying Land In Scotland?

Quite simply no you do not, I can find no reliable source which suggests that this is or ever was the case. No right to any Laird. Lord or Lady titles is conferred by way of ownership of land in Scotland. The only people it seems who claim this is true, are companies like Highland Titles and others, who stand to profit from such nonsense, it is a con, pure and simple.

I have on the other hand found several reliable sources which confirm that there is no truth to the "titles" claims of the fake Laird, Lord, Lady, Scottish land plot selling companies.

One such source is this document, written by two Aberdeen University School of Law graduates, Douglas Bain and Catherine Bury.

"The Court reminds readers that only those people who have been bestowed with a peerage can correctly use the title ‘Lord’ or ‘Lady’. Similarly, the word ‘laird’ is a historical term often used by the people in a district to refer to the owner of a large Estate on which their ancestors are likely to have derived their livelihood. It is not a title and it is not possible to derive the right to be referred to as ‘laird’, ‘Lord’ and ‘Lady’ from the ownership of a souvenir plot"

Douglas Bain -  Graduate, School of Law, University of Aberdeen. Douglas Bain is writing a PhD on the use and management of common property in Scotland, and is a Teaching Fellow in the School of Law

Catherine Bury - Graduate, School of Law, University of Aberdeen. Catherine Bury is an associate in the Aberdeen office of regional law firm Ledingham Chalmers LLP, specialising in rural law.

Or how about this article from The Journal of The Law Scociety of Scotland.

"Ownership of a souvenir plot of land does not bring with it the right to any description such as ‘laird’, ‘lord’ or ‘lady"

"The words ‘lord’ and ‘lady’ apply to those on whom a peerage has been confirmed and do not relate to the ownership of land"

Who would you rather believe, two University of Aberdeen School of Law graduates and The Law Society of Scotland, or a company like Highland Titles who has been found to be telling lies, more lies, who's founder Dr Peter Bevis has been involved in other dubious enterprises before, and make use of forged fake newspaper articles as part of their mainstream advertising effort?

If you bought a plot of land in Scotland, and thought through that you gained the right to any titles, I'd thoroughly recommend you both ask for your money back, and report the matter to the relevant authorities.

Can we get this perfectly straight once and for all, you DO NOT get a title by buying land in Scotland period. Anybody who claims you do, is a liar, and probably just trying to con you out of your money.

Oops, I nearly forgot, you don't even really own the souvenir plot of land in Scotland you thought you bought, you might want to give that a read too.

The Highland Titles Scam Charity - What Happened?

Update

Dr. Bevis originally promised a Scottish charity, and claimed to be consulting experts on Scottish Charity Law. We waited. The Scottish charity never materialized. Now - exactly as feared below - Dr. Bevis has found a means of claiming charitable status without subjecting his accounts to public scrutiny by registering the Highland Titles Charitable Trust for Scotland in Guernsey .... the secretive Channel Islands.

What proportion of revenue is spent on conservation? How much goes on salaries and directors' remuneration? This would be public information for any organisation in Scotland that claimed charitable status; here it's a secret. The only publicly available information available for Guernsey registered charities, is their name and address, that's it, nothing else.

If he really was consulting experts on Scottish Charity Law, perhaps his question might have been how to circumvent it! Anyone who takes this registration at face value is truly deserving of the "one born every minute" epithet.

Original Article

Last week, Highland Titles held their much vaunted meeting of the gulli .. errr customers at Glencoe House. It was announced some time back that at this event the first Annual General Meeting of the charity which was being set up to manage the Highland Title Nature Reserve, with election of trustees, would take place. The AGM vanished from the schedule before the event, and I can find no mention of any such meeting having taken place at the event.

I can find no mention of it on the Highland Titles website, or on their Facebook page, it wasn't mentioned in a Mail on Sunday article (rather aptly headed "Gathering Of The Shams"!), nor in a piece the Daily Mail did on the event. So, it would appear that this charity has not been set up and was in fact more bluff & deceit in order to gain credibility by using the cachet of involvement in a charity. If anybody has any information regarding this and knows that Highland Titles have in fact been involved in the setting this charity, please let me know and I'll correct this post accordingly.

Schedule from18/02/2013 (now you see it)

Schedule from15/05/2013 (now you don't see it)

 

 Of course there is now no mention of this charity on the Highland Titles website, but fortunately Mr Bevis did mention it elsewhere.

http://www.bletherskite.net/2011/02/23/end-to-buying-a-fake-scottish-title/#comment-11764

"In a few months, management of the Nature Reserve passes to a membership charity that will manage the estate"

http://www.bletherskite.net/2011/02/23/end-to-buying-a-fake-scottish-title/#comment-11756

"Yes, of course the charity number will be published. The charity is being formed by our solicitor, Colin Liddell, a Specialist in Charity Law with the firm J & H Mitchell WS of Pitlochry"

http://www.bletherskite.net/2011/02/23/end-to-buying-a-fake-scottish-title/#comment-11751

"In 2013, The Highland Titles Nature Reserve moves into the control of a Scottish charity run by a membership of thousands. The lies and spin perpetrated by two or three small minded bigots will not change that fact."

 Where is this charity now? Nobody seems to know, the whole idea seems to have vanished. Unless Highland Titles can come up with this charity it would appear the lies and spin mentioned above belong to Mr Bevis, and the critics are proved correct once again. Perhaps they did actually apply to set up a charity but were refused. A fairly likely scenario in my opinion.

So, a question for Highland Titles, what happened to this charity? My email address is displayed on the right hand side of this page if you would care to comment and give me the charity registration number, and I will amend this post accordingly.

There is an excellent post over at the scots-titles.com forum by Andrew on the missing Highland Titles charity, which I'll reproduce here in full.

http://www.scots-titles.com/forum/fake-scots-titles-exposed-group3/scots-title-reseller-scams-forum12/scottish-highland-titles-no-longer-trading-thread6.62

"Dr. Bevis attended the October 10th 2012 meeting of the Duror and Kentallen Community Council. According to the minutes:

“Dr Bevis said that it his intention to pass the enterprise over to a suitable charity, run by a local management committee; and he would then pass over control.”

Certainly some of his comments on Bletherskite are barefaced lies (“I do not clone websites.” Ha!), but did he also stand up and lie to the local Community Council? Did he assume that the charity story would swing opinion behind him, and in a few months' time everyone would have forgotten it?

It’s not possible to be certain. I incline towards the view expressed on the Lochaber Highland Estate blog that he did apply for charity registration but was turned down.

Dr. B explained on scotstitles-faq.blogspot.com (August 16th 2012) why he would never register HT as a charity: “If we registered as a charity, which we could easily do, we would have less money to spend on conservation, not more, as our accountancy costs would be considerably higher.”

Palpable garbage of the first order. Two-bit community charities with revenues of only a few hundred manage the accountancy burden just fine... and most of them don’t benefit, as HT does, from a director who studied accountancy at university.

The real problem, of course, is that registering as a charity would expose HT’s accounts to public scrutiny. As it stands, despite previously being described as a not-for-profit, HT’s accounts are not even subject to the same scrutiny as a regular UK for-profit because of the Alderney registration.

Then Dr. B had a lightbulb moment: HT remains the completely opaque money-handling end of the operation and he registers a Scottish charity to own the plots which HT will periodically throw wodges of cash at.

As we have it in his own words that (because of the tax regime in Alderney) charity registration would afford no benefit, it is purely a stunt.

The upshot of this wizard wheeze is that he gets to dangle a bona fide Scottish charity in front of his customers, bolstering his conservation credibility no end, while the business end is hidden under a thick Channel Islands fog.

So clearly unacceptable you have to admire the audacity. Dr. B does tend to assume he can pull the wool over everyone’s eyes. And experience has often borne him out. The course of events suggests that (assuming HT ever did attempt registration!) the Charity Commission turned out not to be quite as dopey as he’d bargained on."

Update

Rather bizarrely Highland Titles have claimed a copyright infringement of the screen captures of their Meet The Neighbours Glencoe House itinerary shown above, http://www.chillingeffects.org/dmca512c/notice.cgi?NoticeID=978560

Not that it matters, it provides confirmation of the accuracy of my screen captures and the disappearance of the charity AGM from the itinerary, which can be confirmed by looking at the images stored on the Highland Titles website of which I am supposedly breaching copyright of.

http://www.highlandtitles.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/05-Jan.-16-18.10.jpg

http://www.highlandtitles.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/ScreenHunter_01-May.-01-16.18.jpg

 

Highland Titles Fake Newspaper Articles Scam Reported In Private Eye

Highland Titles have yet again been chastised (well as Private Eye say on their website, "The ASA gives a limp-wristed slap to a firm selling fake lairdships") by the Advertising Standards Authority, and have once again come to the attention of Private Eye magazine, issue No. 1339 page 11, buy your copy now.

Every company likes a bit of good publicity right? Highland Titles are no exception, so the idea of linking to existing newspaper articles as part of marketing strategy is quite attractive, cheap and easy. But wait, there's a snag, what if some of those articles have the odd less than complimentary statement and the odd comment they might wish nobody saw? Not a problem for the Highland Titles marketing machine apparently, simply use convincing cloned copies of the real newspaper articles with the offending bits changed or removed ... neat!

On the Highland Titles website on the "as seen on tv" page there were links (now changed to link to images of newspaper articles) to various newspaper articles which gave the appearance of the real thing. Many of the articles linked to (I counted ten) were actually fakes, very convincing clones of the real newspaper websites and articles, but actually forgeries. Some (or perhaps all?) of these articles had been adulterated and did not accurately reflect the original content, some had the comments section edited to remove negative comments etc.

The ASA stated the nature of the complaint in a Freedom of Information request response HERE 

For Instance an otherwise intact article from the San Francisco Chronicle had "The offer has been attacked as a fraud by internet critics" removed, an article from the Daily Record had the words "scam" and "phoney" removed, on a Scottish Express article Emily Farquarson's (the cheek!) unflattering comment had been removed entirely and so on. Highland Titles would rather readers did not know that some people suspect such buy Scottish land become a Laird, Lord, Lady conservation schemes, to be a fraudulent phoney scam.

The domain used to host these fake articles was newsfeed.ws, with web addresses starting with for example dailyrecord.newsfeed.ws/ used, to make them look like the real thing. The only content that I could  find on the newsfeed.ws server while searching was, cloned website pages with articles concerning Highland Titles, an mp3 file of a radio interview with Highland Titles (also linked to from the Highland Titles website) and a forgery of a pdf document nicked from baronage.co.uk, a forgery which had the content changed from the original in some apparent attempt to support some of the laird / land  vendors' claims about Scottish titles (this file has now been removed from the server).

Interestingly, a user named Peter Bevis (who would appear to me at least to be posting as the real deal director of Highland Titles) claimed on the Bletherskite website, that content on websites belonging to Highland Titles had been  faked by an internet troll. He did strangely fail to point out where any examples can be seen.  From http://www.bletherskite.net/2011/02/23/end-to-buying-a-fake-scottish-title/

Peter Bevis says:

December 5, 2012 at 10:14 am

"I have been shown several examples of fabricated content which has been created by a troll and which purports to reflect our web site content but which in fact only represents somebody’s skill with a graphics package"

 And this:
Peter Bevis says:

December 4, 2012 at 12:25 pm

 "I do not clone web sites"

As the matter has been recorded by the Advertising Standards Authority, Highland Titles will hardly be able to claim this blog post is all lies, the work of internet trolls and that they did not make use of cloned websites containing errr,  favourably edited newspaper articles, as part of their mainstream advertising effort, will they? It strikes me that the real troll is in fact Highland Titles, exercising their skill at using cloned websites which purport to be real newspaper websites and articles, but which are in fact forgeries with adulterated content.

One article found at newsfeed.ws, though not linked to from the Highland Titles website, was a forgery of an article by the Daily Record, with a story about souvenir plot sales which mentions Highland Titles and contains some wild misquotations by Scottish MSP Rob Gibson. totally transforming his meaning. The quotations from Rob Gibson MSP from the real Daily Record report read as follows.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/would-be-lairds-given-chance-to-own-1ft-1067759 

"MSP warns it exploits Scotland"

"But an angry MSP slammed the scheme, claiming it could attract "spivs and speculators". SNP rural affairs spokesman Rob Gibson said: "This exploitation of Scotland should be outlawed.""

"But Gibson urged Scots and visitors to stay away from the scheme."

"He said: "Selling square-feet souvenir plots of Scotland purely for financial gain is utterly unacceptable. I find this activity attracts spivs and speculators and people should avoid it with a bargepole."

"There should be some means to stop this. This is not the first time somebody has tried to make a fast buck out of selling a little piece of Scotland."

Whereas the quotations from the forged Daily Record report found on newsfeed.ws have been transformed to read:

"MSP welcomes boost for Scotland"

"An enthusiastic MSP praised the scheme, claiming it would attract "visitors and tourists are the life blood of the Scottish economy". SNP rural affairs spokesman Rob Gibson said: "This novel conservation of Scotland must be encouraged.""

"Gibson urged Scots and visitors to support the scheme and 'come and visit Scotland'.

"He said: "Selling square-feet souvenir plots of Scotland to support conservation is inspired. I find this activity attracts people who love Scotland to visit and so we should all give these people our full support."

"There should be some means for the Scottish Parliament to advertise their support for this. This is not the first time somebody has tried to make money out of selling a little piece of Scotland, but these people have the good of the whole nation at heart.".

Image capture of a forgery of the Daily Record website with a fake news article, sourced from the newsfeed.ws server. This article contained fake quotations from Rob Gibson MSP highlighted. Genuine Daily Record article here for comparison. Note the company involved and the locations have also been changed to suit.

It would appear that supporters of these fake lairdship schemes will stop at little to promote this tat, and seem to think nothing of making up comments from a Scottish MSP in apparent support of this nonsense. Fake titles, fake land sales, fake conservation, fake websites, fake newspaper articles, fake quotations, whatever will the fake lairdship lot fake up next? The mind boggles, the kilt shudders.

Images of a selection of the fake newspaper articles used by Highland Titles from newsfeed.ws, to give an idea of how like the real websites the fakes were.

Fake Express Website Page Used By Highland Titles

 

Fake Northern Star Website Page Used By Highland Titles 

Fake Daily Record Website Page Used By Highland Titles

 

Fake Goldcoast News Website Page Used By Highland Titles

The Private Eye article about the Highland Titles scam cloned web sites from Private Eye issue number 1339 page 11.

“Highland Titles, one of the largest firms selling ludicrous fake lairdships as gifts, has been given a slap on the wrist by advertising’s watchdogs after tidying up press cuttings on its website to remove any hint that the scheme is a scam.

The Guernsey-based firm, which sells Laird and Ladyships of Glencoe, although the Glencoe Woods being sold by the metre aren’t even part of the Glencoe estate (see Eye 1328), has a web page of links to press coverage from Scotland and around the world. While the articles looked like the real deal, they were actually mock-ups with cunningly disguised web addresses, such as dailyrecord.newsfeed.ws. The Daily Record article was largely copied from a real one but had been doctored to expunge the words “scam” and ‘phoney”.

Meanwhile an otherwise genuine article from the San Francisco Chronicle was tweaked to remove a paragraph noting: “The offer has been attacked as a fraud by internet critics.” The Advertising Standards Authority investigated the website and closed its file on the complaint after Highland Titles agreed to remove all links to the fake articles (though the fakes themselves remain online)” 

It should be noted the fakes have now been removed.

Is Highland Titles A Scam - Scots Titles Scam - Buy A Title Scam

There was a very interesting post over at the scots-titles.com forum by the user Andrew. It outlines very nicely how the Highland Titles scam works, I'll post the whole thing here if I may.

From  this thread of the scots-titles.com forum.

Is Highland Titles a scam? Let's keep this very simple and just look at the "Laird of Glencoe" sales, leaving aside some of the more extraordinary behaviour that is alleged.

The page title of highlandtitles.com, which is the most prominent element in a Google search result, reads "Become a Lord, Laird or Lady | Buy a British title | Purchase a Lord Title or Lady Title".

But Highland Titles of course can in no meaningful sense sell a British title. Although they will happily take people's money under this pretence.

The title sale does not exploit "loopholes" in the law as is sometimes claimed - the sale confers nothing. It exploits customers' ignorance of the fact that in the UK people are essentially free to adopt whatever title they please, providing it isn't for fraudulent purposes.

Having paid Highland Titles £30, the customer would have no greater right to adopt the style Lord, Laird or Lady than before.

Of course, Highland Titles can prevent non-customers from using their specific trademarked wording "Laird of Glencoe", but this is a tactic of denial not of enabling. The trademark no more enables Highland Titles to make their customers "Become a Lord, Laird or Lady" than Budweiser ("King of Beers"<tm>) can make their customers Kings.

So the title sale is meaningless.

The plot sales, as has now been widely documented, are not land sales in the conventional sense but private contracts between Highland Titles and the buyer.
If Highland Titles were to go out of business, as a number of vendors have, then these contracts would likely be unenforceable.

The purchasers of square-foot plots may be content to chalk this up to experience. The purchasers of 1,000 square-foot plots (US$799 at the moment) may be less sanguine.

So the plot sale is meaningless.

From a Highland Titles customer welcome letter dated 1st January 2012, "You also have the absolute right to use the Glencoe crest which can be downloaded from our web site…".
From the website of the Procurator Fiscal to the Court of the Lord Lyon, "The use of such un-registered heraldry is an offence under Scots law."
The heraldry element is played down now, but it used to be part of what customers thought they were buying.

So the heraldry sale is worse than meaningless. Scottish customers were actually being encouraged to commit an offense.

Nothing that the customer was offered was for real, not least the "Glencoe" aspect.
What's left? The customer might cling to the hope that their money is going towards conservation. And there is some tree planting and path building going on. But, in contrast to all bona fide conservation organizations, Highland Titles' accounts are not public. We trust the customer is not clinging too avidly to this hope.

Very well said Andrew I hardly think it could have been put better

A footnote on the Laird Of Glencoe trademark held by Highland Titles which they seem to imply is a real title. There was a recent case brought to the attention of the Advertising Standards Authority. This complaint was in regard to a company called Enssen Ltd trading as lordtitles.co.uk.

http://www.asa.org.uk/Rulings/Adjudications/2013/5/Enssen-Ltd/SHP_ADJ_219487.aspx

The ASA noted in their assessment .....

"We also noted the titles Lord of the Manor of Wansley and Lady of the Manor of Wansley were registered as trademarks with the IPO, rather than being genuine titles"

In the same way, the Highland Titles Laird Of Glencoe trademark, is not a genuine title.

To sum up and answer the question in the title of this post. Highland Titles claim that with their purchase, buyers will gain a Laird, Lord, or Lady title which they were not entitled to before making that purchase, and ownership of a piece of land in Scotland. Neither of these claims is true, neither of these items is actually supplied, therefore yes, the Highland Titles offering is in fact a scam.

Buy a Title - Plot of Land For Sale and Scots Law

Over at the scots-titles.com forum, there is a post with a link to a blog post by Scottish solicitors Halliday Campbell. This explains very nicely the position in Scots law as seen by them of buyers of souvenir plots of land in Scotland, It also goes into Laird and Lord titles, and use of Coats of Arms, a very interesting, informative, and enlightening article, well worth a read. Who would you rather believe, a company which makes proven misleading statements and uses fake newspaper articles in it advertising, like Highland Titles Glencoe Estates, or a company of reputable Scottish solicitors?

http://www.hallidaycampbell.com/2012/06/who-owns-souvenir-plot.html

Bottom line is, if you bought a souvenir plot of land from Highland Titles or anybody else, you can't really own it under any accepted definition of the word own. It simply is not possible to do so under Scots law, all you can ever have is a personal right against the existing owner.

Ownership of the property, which is a real right, (that is, a right in the land as opposed to a personal right against the existing owner, and which prevails on insolvency) does not pass to the purchaser until the disposition is registered in the Register of Sasines or Land Register of Scotland. Which is specifically prohibited in Scots law for souvenir plots.

Further confirmation if any is needed of the legal position regarding sales of souvenir plots can be seen on the HMRC Customs Scottish land law terms page.

http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageLibrary_ShowContent&propertyType=document&id=HMCE_CL_000157

Extracts from the HMRC Customs Scottish Land Law Document

Disposition
This is a formal document transferring ownership, or 'title', to land. Following the first stage in the sale of a property (the missives or contract), the purchaser has a personal right against the seller - that is, a purely contractual right to make the seller confer ownership on the purchaser in exchange for payment of the price. (Purely personal or contractual rights often cannot be enforced if the person who is due to perform them is or becomes insolvent). Ownership of the property, however, which is a real right, (that is, a right in the land as opposed to a personal right against the existing owner, and which prevails on insolvency) does not pass to the purchaser until the disposition is registered in the Register of Sasines or Land Register of Scotland."

Personal right
Right enforceable only against a specific person or limited class of persons for example, a contractual right. The disadvantage of personal rights is that, if the person against whom the right is enforceable becomes insolvent, the right is likely to be worthless in practice.

Real Right/Personal Right
A real right is one which is enforceable against everyone (in the traditional phrase, 'against the whole world'), as opposed to being enforceable only against one person - which is a personal right (such as rights arising under a contract). The main difference between them is that personal rights may be unenforceable against the party who is bound by them if for example, he/she becomes insolvent; while real rights (such as rights of ownership or registered securities over land) prevail against everyone, regardless of their status.

So if those interpretations are correct, what do you get for your money when you buy into one of these plot of land / title deals? Apparently not a lot, you don't get any word to use you could not have put in front of your name and said was your title perfectly legally already, and it looks like you don't actually own the land. Might as well have burnt your money, at least you'd have a bit of heat off of that.

***********************************************************************************

I have a lot more evidence suggesting dishonest and unethical business practices by several souvenir plot / title vendors which I have not published.. If you are a bona fide journalist or Government department with an interest in investigating this business and would like access to that evidence, please get in touch with me by using the email address on the right or sending me a comment marked "confidential", I will not publish comments so marked.

Peter Bevis And Highland Titles On Bletherskite Part Two The ASA Complaint

From the Bletherskite blog http://www.bletherskite.net/2011/02/23/end-to-buying-a-fake-scottish-title/

Peter Bevis says: December 9, 2012 at 3:48 pm Of course anyone can call themselves Laird without purchasing a plot from us, or indeed from anyone.

That isn't what it said on the Lochaber Highland Estates (run by the same people as Highland Ttiles Glencoe Estates) website earlier this year, In fact thanks to a reader we know that this was precisely the issue mentioned in a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) on 19/09/2012. What it said on their website was "The Title of Lord, Laird or Lady depends on owning a Scottish Estate".

Added 03/03/2013

Highland Titles / Lochaber Highland Estates now have had four complaints with the Advertising Standards Agency held against them since September 1012. I would appear that they are indeed regularly publishing misleading information on their own internet site.

It would seem if it really was Peter Bevis of Highland Titles Glencoe Estates who posted that, then he is quite aware that - "anyone can call themselves Laird without purchasing a plot from us, or indeed from anyone", but chose to say on his website that it is required to buy land in Scotland in order to do so!

That is an example of the standards of honest and integrity of the people behind Highland Titles Glencoe Estates , very little, you cannot believe a word they say.

A couple of quotations taken from the comments at http://highlandtitlesscam.wordpress.com illustrate nicely the point that no land purchase in Scotland or anywhere else is required in order to call yourself Laird, Lord or Lady. The ownership of land has no relevance.

"You’ve forgotten to mention that the titles Highland Titles Glencoe Estates and their like “sell”, are also fake, there is no title. Buying a piece of land in Scotland confers no right to any title that is not available to non land owners. 

Anyone in the UK can call themselves pretty much whatever they like so long as there is no intention to commit fraud by doing so. So a non landowner calling themselves Lord Of Glencoe is just as valid as a landowner doing the same thing, there is no difference. 

All these “title sellers” are doing is distorting and abusing Scottish tradition to make it seem that it is possible to gain a real title by giving them money to buy a worthless piece of land in Scotland, when doing so does not confer any title and non landowners can do exactly the same thing for free. 

Anybody in the UK and many other countries can get their bank details & names on credit cards etc. changed to Lord Of Glencoe for free, without buying any land in Scotland! Just make out a Deed Of Change of name yourself and do it if you want.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deed_of_change_of_name 

When you buy a piece of land that is all you get, a piece of land, that is it, Oh you might want to read the following before doing so to make sure you are even buying any land with real rights.
http://www.journalonline.co.uk/Magazine/57-4/1011036.aspx#.UEhaao1lR4d"

"Supporters of these fake title schemes frequently trot out that the proof the titles are real is that people have changed their name on bank accounts etc. to for example, Lord Of Glencoe successfully  and I dare say that might be even be true. The trouble is that the fact of ownership of land in Scotland had nothing whatsoever to do with the name change. The same people could have changed their name to Lord Of Glencoe in exactly the same manner without owning any land anywhere ever!!! 

The other standard “proof” is that it is fully legal to style oneself as a Laird Lord or Lady by owning land in Scotland, and it is ….. but it is also equally fully legal to style oneself as a Laird Lord or Lady without owning land anywhere, there is no difference. 

It’s a simple con carried out by people with little care for anything other than making money with as little effort as possible, who have no regard at all for Scottish traditions or culture, don’t have anything to do with it."

If you bought a piece of land in Scotland from Highland Titles Glencoe Estates and was led by them to believe that any Scottish title came with, or is in any way connected to that land purchase, I'd say you have been conned, ask for your money back.

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I have a lot more evidence suggesting dishonest and unethical business practices by several souvenir plot / title vendors which I have not published.. If you are a bona fide journalist or Government department with an interest in investigating this business and would like access to that evidence, please get in touch with me by using the email address on the right or sending me a comment marked "confidential", I will not publish comments so marked

Peter Bevis On Bletherskite Part One - Buy a Title Scam

It would appear that Peter Bevis of Highland Titles Glencoe Estates has made a personal appearance over at  http://www.scotclans.com/end-to-buying-a-fake-scottish-title/ Whether or not it really is Mr Bevis of Highland Titles I cannot confirm, you'll have to make up your own.mind, I think it really is him. I can have a look at what was posted and comment,

Peter Bevis says: December 4, 2012 at 8:59 am - It is of course relatively easy for an enthusiastic troll, with an ability to create multiple anonymous websites and use Photoshop to change our website, so as to confuse a single Scotsman journalist.

Funny that he does not say which particular anonymous websites he is referring to, or specify which parts of any of his websites he thinks Photoshop has been used to change, or how the content has been changed. I can say that no image or quotation on this blog has been adulterated in any way, any images or quotations appearing here are true and accurate reflections of the content of the website or other sources they were taken from, at the time they were taken. Accusations really need to be specific or they can be considered as hot air and bluster. My contact email is clearly shown, nobody from Highland Titles, or any other company, has ever contacted me with a complaint that any of the content of this blog is inaccurate.

Peter Bevis says:December 4, 2012 at 8:59 am - In 2013, The Highland Titles Nature Reserve moves into the control of a Scottish charity run by a membership of thousands. The lies and spin perpetrated by two or three small minded bigots will not change that fact.

Interesting he does not actually name the charity, and anyone reading the above would be excused for thinking this charity actually exists now, it does not, as we learn reading further down the page. Then there are accusations of  "lies and spin" without pointing out a single example.

Peter Bevis says: December 4, 2012 at 9:52 am - The charity is being formed by our solicitor, Colin Liddell, a Specialist in Charity Law with the firm J & H Mitchell WS of Pitlochry

After writing "The Highland Titles Nature Reserve moves into the control of a Scottish charity", we then learn that this charity has not actually been set up! Is it not a tiny little bit presumptuous to make such statements before the charity actually exists? It may be that some such organisation may come into existence at some point, but stating that it is a fact is a little premature. It is far from a trivial process applying to become a Scottish charity, and it is very possible for applications to fail at any stage .... still no name for this charity. I understand Highland Titles even announced the first annual general meeting of this charity before it has even been formed!

Highland Titles Glencoe Estates in Private Eye - Buy a Title Scam

Thanks to a reader we can report that Highland Titles Glencoe Estates have made it into the pages of the magazine Private Eye, issue number 1328 ....  And again in Private Eye (issue number 1339 page 11) when they were caught using fake newspaper articles.

"LAIRDSHIPS 

Meet the Macduffers

WARNINGS from Forestry Commission Scotland that owners of woodland face £5,000 fines if they fail to tackle diseased ash trees present a new problem for the already questionable business of selling tiny parcels of land and telling punters that purchase entitles them to call themselves Laird or Lady.

The gift lairdship industry has been around for a while, despite consumer groups warning that owning patches of land – some as small as a square foot does not really entitle people to a title. According to the Court of the Lord Lyon (in charge of all things heraldic in Scotland), the title “Laird” is “not appropriate for the owner of a normal residential property, far less the owner of a small souvenir plot of land”.

One of the largest lairdship companies, Highland Titles, offers all its buyers the title Laird or Lady of Glencoe and the “right” to wear Glencoe tartan and bear the Glencoe coat of arms -even though the Glencoe Woods where the small plots are for sale aren’t even part of the Glencoe estate, but on the nearby Keil Estate.

As well as looking silly, purchasers who use the Glencoe crest would risk committing an offence under Scottish heraldic law (something Scottish football clubs have recently discovered is very much alive and kicking).

Highland Titles, which is registered in, er, Guernsey and run by self-styled “philanthropist, conservationist, biologist” Peter Bevis, advertises that its woods consist of “native Scottish broadleaf, either oak, ash, rowan, hazel…” A Forestry Commission Scotland spokesman tells the Eye that statutory plant health notices could be served on either the owner or manager of woodland, which would be decided on a case by case basis. Fines are imposed for failure to comply.

Lairdship companies could of course reassure customers that there is no such risk by admitting that since souvenir plots are not registered in the Land Register, buyers don’t actually own the land any more than they do the title (as Registers of Scotland warned in a law journal article earlier this year). But then, what could they claim to be selling?"

Highland Titles have mentioned this article on their own Facebook page, and in typical fashion have put their owns spin on it and as usual their take is - let's just say somewhat misleading. They have even altered the text on the Highland Titles website to support their new story. Lets have a look at what is says on the relevant bits of their Facebook page text.

"Unfortunately the gist of the piece is that all our Lairds might find themselves liable for dealing with Ash Dieback, 

the fungal disease chalara that is sweeping through British ash trees. There are fines for landowners who fail to deal with diseased ash trees. 

Unfortunately for Private Eye, they were so excited with the potentially humorous side of this story that nobody thought to check whether the Mountain Ash that forms a part of the understory of Glencoe Wood is related to the ash trees that suffer from Ash Dieback. 

Forestry Commission state:
Rowan trees are easily mistaken for ash but they are not susceptible to chalara and should not be reported."

Unfortunately for Highland Tiltes, the Private Eye article made no mention of trees which may have been recently planted. Glencoe Wood also consists of MATURE woodland, and some of that woodland has been sold as plots. I'd be very surprised indeed if none of that mature native woodland did not have ash trees susceptible to ash dieback. Highland Titles seem to have forgotten to mention this - ooops!

The have also changed the story about their planting on the Highland Titles website to suit.

From Google cache at 25 November 2012 on the FAQs page.

“The type of tree we plant for you will depend on the type of land we plant it in. It will be a native Scottish broadleaf, probably an oak, ash, rowan, hazel, birch, holly, willow or alder.”

But on 01 December 2012 the same FAQ now reads.

“The type of tree we plant for you will depend on the type of land we plant it in. It will be a native Scottish broadleaf, probably an oak, mountain ash (rowan), hazel, birch, holly, willow or alder.”

Glencoe Wood is mature woodland, long predating Highland Titles. Their argument that MOUNTAIN ASH is not ASH is a classic straw man ploy, they can use it to make the article look ridiculous, even though it wasn't what was said. Highland Titles can not honestly say there are no ash trees in Glencoe Wood, they have not exhaustively catalogued all of trees in the wood, and it is a suitable native species as they acknowledged in their (now amended) planting list.

In fact we have it from Highland Titles own material that Keil Hill does indeed contain native Ash trees, from their own "Interpretive Plan" http://highlandtitles.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Interpretive-Plan-Final.pdf save a copy before they change it, I have!!.

"Keil Hill has two relict areas of established deciduous woodland, with a mixture of birch, oak, ash, hazel, rowan and holly and willow. The Hill enjoys a damp, humid climate with high rainfall and acidic soils. Salachan as a place name, means "willow"."

Note that Ash and Rowan are mentioned separately!  Oh dear Highalnd Titles caught out fibbing yet again! If you bought a plot and it contains any ash trees, you could indeed be liable if you fail to tackle diseased ash trees as pointed out by Highland Titles own Facebook page. Unless of course you don't really own the land, in which case you have been conned, and you'd have to wonder what you did actually buy?

Highland Titles have made another appearance in Private Eye (issue number 1339 page 11), when they were caught using fake newspaper articles as part of their marketing effort, read about it here.

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I have a lot more evidence suggesting dishonest and unethical business practices by several souvenir plot / title vendors which I have not published.. If you are a bona fide journalist or Government department with an interest in investigating this business and would like access to that evidence, please get in touch with me by using the email address on the right or sending me a comment marked "confidential", I will not publish comments so marked.