What If You Fall Victim To A Property Fraud?

For the past several years, authorities have been launching measures to simplify and make transparent property purchasing. However, millions of cases relating to property fraud still land up in the Indian civil and criminal courts every year.

In 2014, the then Commissioner of Delhi Police had said that 30 per cent of cases that come to them were related to property. In fact, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data suggested that the national capital was on top of the list in terms of property fraud and misappropriation among all states and union territories.

Taking the matter to judiciary is often a long process and the litigants incur a lot of expenses. In 2016, a study said that out of 7.5 million cases, 6 million had dragged beyond five years.

A survey of 9,000 litigants undertaken by a Bengaluru-based firm Daksh said that on an average, litigants spend Rs 497 per day during court hearings. Every year, 0.5 per cent of India’s annual gross domestic product is wasted in frauds. However, one often does not have a choice but to knock at the doors of the judiciary. In case you are in a similar situation, what could you do?

Property sold to another buyer without consent

Kishore Kunal had bought a house from his father on verbal agreement. However, his father resold it to a new buyer who is going to move in the house next month. While Kunal has the copy of payments made to his father, his documents are not registered. Kunal is living in the same house that has been sold.

Delhi-based advocate, Anuj Arora, a member of Lawrato, says: “Once a person enters into an agreement to sell and receives full or part of the consideration/sale amount, he is bound to follow it and cannot sell to any other person unless the earlier agreement gets cancelled. In these circumstances, you should first file a suit for specific performance and mandatory injunction against the seller of the property to save your possession and then proceed to file a police complaint.”

“In these types of cases, if you prima facie show that you have entered into the agreement and have paid the part money and are also ready to pay the remaining consideration. In most of the cases, courts grant stay on first date of hearing. You can also send notice to the buyer informing him about the factual position that you have already entered into the agreement and is in possession of the property also,” he adds.

Property taken over dubiously

Charan Singh says, “My grandfather’s sister had a property and we were her only legal heirs. We don’t have the property papers … some local agent came and took my mother’s sign on the sale deed and registered our property on his name in 2013 and he sold it to another person in 2015. What should I do? I cannot afford the attorney fees.”

Hyderabad-based advocate Rajagopalan, also a member of Lawrato, says, “A case of cheating and fraud needs to be filed. The victim can also file a case in the court to declare the sale deed signed by the mother as invalid and also request the court to declare the subsequent sale invalid. Also note that every court has a Legal Services Authority where the court appoints lawyers to fight your case free of cost. The lawyers will get paid by the court. Kindly approach the legal services authority in your district court.”

Seller’s kin interfering after sale

Madan Nagpal bought a property from Meena Sabharwal. It was Sabharwal’s self-acquired property. Nagpal says, “Now one of her sons has filed a civil case against his mother asking for a share. He is refusing to vacate the house and is not allowing us to take possession as well. We are really not sure if the lady will visit the court during the hearing as she has already sold the property to us. Kindly suggest on what step needs to be taken.”

Advocate Kiran Murthy from Bengaluru says, “It is better if you implead yourself as the defendant into the case filed by the son against his mother, as a necessary party (subsequent purchaser) and contest the case on merits.

If and when the mother does attend the case and if she files a written statement in the case, go through it and file a better written statement once you have been impleaded in the case, this will determine the case on merits. She in any case will be your principal and you her agent.”