Beijing sets up password for house ownership certificates  

北京市下月起个人房产证可免费加设密码

免费给自己的房产证设一个密码，如果进行抵押或买卖房产，要输入正确的密码才能完成手续。北京市住建委昨日发布，下月1日起，北京将在全市范围内推行房产证加密服务，通过密码为市民的房产增加一把“安全锁”。[查看全文]

Beijing will push for the free set-up of passwords for property-ownership certificates across the whole city starting next month. Home owners can apply for the service voluntarily and with no charge, the municipal authorities announced on Wednesday.

Beijing has been using unified property-ownership certificates since 1998, with most of the certificates possessing anti-counterfeiting features.

Housing authorities can detect fake certificates by looking up the original registration files and verify the anti-counterfeiting features, which the government says will guarantee that a piece of property is claimed by its rightful owner.

However, housing authorities have been duped countless times when a person committing fraud looks like the picture in an ID card of a rightful home owner. These cases are common among family members and identity thieves.

About 2700 people have set up a property-ownership certificates password so far.