Let’s discuss some fraud scenarios that you should be aware of.
Revenue Record Fraud
In this case, there will be no Parent Title Deed documents to support ownership claim of an Individual except a land revenue record. And the revenue record in possession will be a fabricated one. Usually, such fraud is seen in cases of Government lands and temple lands.
Always verify the revenue records. You can verify it online, if such a facility is available.
If online verification is not available, the record should be cross verified with the revenue authorities to check that it is genuine.
Fake Death and Legal Heirship Records
In this case, the ‘real owner’ will be very much alive. However, fraudsters can create fake death certificates and legal heirship records to state that the owner has passed away and Mr X is now the legal heir.
Mr X will then sell the Property to Y number of people. Usually, in these cases, the Original Parent Documents will not be available. Instead, an advertisement regarding loss of Original Document will be taken out in a newspaper with limited readership.
So how do you deal with such a scenario?
Always Verify Death Certificates.
Can it be verified online?
If online verification is not possible, it can be verified from the records of the issuing authority’s office.
Also verify any Legal Heirship Certificates.
How to verify that the Original Document is indeed lost and you are not being taken for a ride? Check that the Seller has followed these procedures:
– Lodged a police complaint
– Obtained Non-Traceable Certificate issued by Police
– Published advertisement in at least 2 newspapers with a decent readership base (1 in English and 1 in the Vernacular language)
– Undertaken Letter of Affidavit from the present owners stating that Originals have been lost and in case of the document being traced, it will be immediately handed over to the intended Buyer.
Impersonating the ‘real owner’
In this scenario, Mr X will impersonate the real owner by
– Executing a fraudulent general Power of Attorney. With this, the Power Agent can execute a sale deed in favour of unsuspecting buyers.
– Executing a fraudulent settlement deed impersonating the real owner. In such situations, Mr X will either create a fraud Title Deed or claim that the Original is lost.
How to escape this fraud?
Always ask for Certified Copies of relevant title deed documents obtained from the Sub-Registrar’s Office.
Compare it with the Originals.
If Mr X claims that the document is lost, check that he has followed the procedure for losing Original Document.
If Mr X has presented a Power of Attorney, try to contact the owner mentioned in the document to verify it is real.
Also, ask for the owner’s PAN and Voter ID cards and cross verify it online.
Mr G Shyam Sunder is a Practising Advocate in Chennai for the past 14 years. His book “Property Registration, Land Records and Building Approval Procedures followed in Various States” is in its second edition.