Darker Side of Real Estate!

Making easy money is the worst temptation a man can have...James Hadley Chase.

Chase was undoubtedly the best crime story writer of all times & his specialty was that in every of his story however the clever plan may be, yet the crime gets detected at end & in some way or other the criminal gets punishment! When asked that why the end is always like this where the plot of any crime ends in failure, however clever it may be planned, the master story teller said “I didn’t wanted to glorify the crime & wanted to send the message that what ever you plan, at the end a criminal never succeeds!” Well unfortunately in current days logic of Chase isn’t working at least not in real estate!

This is one side of the real industry which most of the people in it have experienced in some way or other but which never comes in day light. The city is growing & many have benefited from this growth & money does attracts all sorts of tendencies is a truth from ages. And so it has proved again with real estate. In last few years not only the prime lands in the city center but even in suburbs land rates have soured & the real estate industry turnover is touching new highs with every year. And along with land there are brokers or agents, then various material supplies like sand, bricks, metal & undertaking petty contracts. With all this many avenues have been opened up to earn money for many people around & no harm in it till some one wants to play foul & want to make fast money. And let me be frank not all uses the conventional path of earning money which is “work hard & sincerely”! One has to be very careful now days while dealing in real estate as with whom you are getting associated is important!

The things stars right from selecting proper land through reliable sources. We all have read enough incidences of land grabbing & mainly in suburbs these things have been more. Some ten years back many of the farmers in suburbs which are now newly acquired part of PMC/PCMC sold their land by way of private plotting & the buyers were mainly service class middle income group who were seeking for fulfillment of there dream of own bungalow which is getting more & more difficult with every day. But in this process they haven’t followed the proper procedure of documentation like demarcation certificate, sanctioned lay outs neither they did any thing to protect the land physically by compound wall. Nobody confirmed the proper road or access rights to such plots as the land was not of much value then. By the present time the city has been extended to such plots & suddenly everybody could see the money involved in & then started the dark race to grab the butter of such land. People started taking advantages of lacunas in documentation & flaws in on site condition. Mostly the people who have bought such piece of land were not united neither having any support or knowledge of legal system nor the money to avail security services. Result was when they went to site they found some body else’s boards on their plot & though 7/12 was on their name there wasn’t any documentation which will show that where that piece of land actually is i.e. demarcation certificate. Few who have demarcation were told that the entry road wasn’t part of the agreement & now they don’t have the road to go their plot! Many understood the faith of their plot & surrendered & sold to the party who was occupying the plot at thrown away rate. Few who went for legal system as they weren’t having enough documentation even the system couldn’t help them & have to give up soon. A very few & lucky one could succeed in regaining what they have bought & unfortunate part is the story still continues! Many a still enter in to agreements without checking the proper title/ ownership evidence nor spend money to secure the piece of land they have bought. A best policy I will advise is to buy only fenced property & unless there is drivable road to the very plot site you are buying don’t touch the deal how ever lucrative it may sound. As its not only the common men have been duped even the reputed developers have been cheated in this practice.

Another very much common thing is selling same piece of land to many purchasers. Here many of the lands around the city were open land & family ownership, to study the title obtaining every members sign of the family as per the HUF i.e. Hindu Undivided Family act is of immense importance. Its not just the sign of person on whose name the 7/12 is there is necessary but his/her's entire family trees is equally important, even the minors as later they could claim & they have claimed in many cases making the deal go in to toss a few years later. In such cases the whole investment has gone into drain. As I mentioned this all started when people started realizing the money involved & it’s said that essence of money is very strong & gathers all sort of crowd, which is happening right now around! Unfortunate part is the govt system even after knowing doesn’t change or take any step to stop this. In Madhya Pradesh which is a backward state in comparison to us, they have a system of revenue department giving NOC prior to any deal & they publish a notice in news paper calling for any claims about the land deal. In a way govt itself is assuring the purchaser about the land title as well the possession! So simple & effective though a bit time consuming yet it takes care of many future irregularities which may happen.

Why can’t we have all the pieces of land marked on site also as per the govt land record at least those which are in residential zone as per the development plan or regional plan? Make all the lands marked on plan publish such maps on web site. To my knowledge the govt is in such process but the effect is yet to be seen. Presently the biggest lacuna is matching 7/12 record & demarcation record & its this discrepancy of which ill tendencies takes the advantage of. Another is marking the roads & reservations on site, at least the roads which have been part of DP & RP. This simplest thing will help many people who are not aware of zoning & get duped by buying piece of land which only later they realize is the part of future road or any such reservation. It will also clear the disputes on many lands which presently have no entry or have been deliberately land locked by the people who are not giving their piece of land in road just to take advantage of their position! All roads should be marked on all vacant lands & made at earliest on site; it is the simplest answer to many access issues or land lock problems.

Need of the time is there has to be a separate cell for such types of crimes if we at all call them as crime. The land matters are a dicey subject & even police are not much aware of the acts & documentation. The entire crux is the slow process of changing name on title documents. Unless & until the whole things don’t go online & change of ownership directly not gets reflected on ownership documents these things won’t stop. The legal system is also equally responsible as civil/land matters keep dragging for years & possession is still a key issue, so naturally the one with muscle power holds strong!

Best part is not to get carried away by the deal how ever lucrative it may look & be a more conservative when buying any piece of land as its better late then landing in trouble later! What I will advise here to any person seeking to buy a piece of land or having already is to get the property fenced with name board displayed at site mentioning name as well dimensions & contact numbers. Similarly get the demarcation certificate as well zoning done & keep watchman at site if possible. If it’s a group of small plot holders then jointly do that to share the expense. One may find this as expensive but in actual it’s an investment! Use senior experienced advocate for documentation & don’t try to find out any short cuts in what he has advised. People even try to save on public notice by not advertising in paper like Sakal which have more circulation instead going for smaller news paper just to follow the formality of notice. Such type of practices will only make your own land vulnerable!

Another increasingly concerned thing is about not exact mafia style but about monopoly practices in certain areas like sand supply or water supply or executing some particular works at site. It was a common thing in Mumbai but in Pune it’s started slowly. Here too not many developers will not speak openly but encroachment of so called local leaders & there interference in site matters is there. And they do press or force for giving material orders or works like excavation to their "karyakkartas" & at no negotiation, basis needless to say!

Here too need is not to get surrendered & take help of the authorities immediately as once you bend your knees you remain that way only! Some where extravagant exhibition of wealth by the people associated with this industry is also reason behind this i.e. criminal element is being attracted towards the industry by seeing this display of wealth with fancy cars & jewelry & lavish offices & they think there is lot of money & fast one here! Which isn’t actually false yet it is hard earned money for many with the kind of competition out there & the hurdles in construction & the torturous process involved in it. As the master story teller said money is going to bring all kinds of attentions yet it's up to us how to stand amongst all!

--
Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.

Envo-Power Committee, Credai, Pune

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