Illegal sale of property
What is a sale?
A property is a piece of land or some other possession that belongs to a particular person. A property can be transferred from one ownership to other. One of the ways to transfer a property is sale. In sale the real owner of the property takes some consideration as an amount from the buyer and in return transfers its rights of ownership in the property.
Illegal sale and NRI’s
It is very common among NRI’s living abroad to face issues relating to their property in India. The reasons behind the property frauds with NRI’s are:-
- NRI people finds hard to visit India to keep a check on their land. Reason for less frequent visits is their busy schedule in distant nation. Indians living abroad finds hard to take out time for frequent visits.
- Secondly, it is hard to be a regular visitor while living thousands of miles away from the nation.
- Also it is commonly seen that NRI’s give their property to caretakers. While giving property for caretaking they hand too much power to the caretakers which then strikes back.
- NRI people sometimes handover Power of Attorneys to their friends and relatives. The document named Power of Attorney provides all the powers in the hand of the person just like the real owner.
Ways of illegal sale:-
There are major 3 ways, how an illegal sale can be affected:-
Power of attorney
The most common way a property is sold illegally is by using Power of Attorney. Power of attorney is a document made by the owner in the name of some other person. By Power of Attorney the actual owner passes its right in property to contract in place of the actual owner along with possession to the recipient. And a common scenario with NRI’s is that, Power of Attorney is misused. An illegal transfer of property along with the sale of the property is committed under misuse of the Power of Attorney.
Forgery
Another way an illegal sale is committed is by way of forgery. People often forge original property documents and register themselves as the owner of the property. Forgery is very common with NRI’s and their lands. People target those properties whose owners are living abroad and had left vacant land in India. These keen minded people very cleverly forge the documents of the property and make themselves as the owner of the property.
Impersonation
In impersonation a person impersonates the identity of the actual owner. Using this trick a fraud is committed commonly with the NRI’s. Impersonation has deprived many overseas Indians from their properties. Although impersonation is a rare situation and hard to achieve but still it is a situation to be avoided.
Ways to tackle illegal sale of the property:-
Proper care:-
NRI’s must take proper care of the property. The property should be kept under the surveillance of a trustworthy person. The person to whom that property is given under caretaking should be a good friend, close relative or a trustworthy person. In absence of the actual owner caretaker shall keep visiting the property frequently.
Registration of properties:-
Properties which is claimed from heirs shall be registered as soon as possible. The properties passed by heirs should not be kept unattended. NRI’s should on receiving the property shall get it registered in their own name completely so that no other person can forge and get it registered by themselves.
Change of possession:-
The possession of the property should be changed timely. Tenancy documents should be made for a limited time period. The possession of property shall be kept on changing by changing caretaker and tenants after a short period of time.
Legal remedy:-
If an NRI is a victim of illegal sale of property, then that person can seek legal remedy. They can file legal suit in the court premises with the help of best lawyers practicing in the property law. Illegal sale can be challenged in civil court and the property will return to its original state. Legal suit can be filed in the court on producing the proofs of previous state of the property.
Our lawyers:-
Our team of practicing lawyers have been practicing in property cases. Our lawyers have dealt with many situation where an NRI was a victim of illegal transfer of property. We offer video counselling along with on call assistance in case an NRI is not able to visit our firm more often. NRI’s can also visit our firm and have detailed counseling with our legal advisors.