1. The seller will not produce the original title deed

A genuine owner has the original registered sale deed or allotment letter. Photocopies, “the original is with the bank” and endless delays are the most common opening move in a property fraud. Insist on inspecting originals before any payment.

2. The revenue record does not match

Obtain a fresh fard and jamabandi from the relevant Arazi Record Centre. Compare the khasra and khewat numbers, the area and the name of the recorded owner against the documents produced by the seller. A mutation is only a fiscal record – it does not by itself create title – so verify the underlying transaction as well.

3. Sale through an old power of attorney

General powers of attorney are a favourite instrument of property fraud. Verify that the power of attorney is registered, that it specifically authorises sale, and that the principal is alive and has not revoked it. A power of attorney dies with the principal.

4. Price well below market

A price significantly below the prevailing rate in the locality is a signal, not a bargain. It usually means a defect in title, a pending dispute, or an intention to sell the same property to several buyers.

5. Pressure to pay in cash and hurry

Urgency is manufactured to prevent verification. Any seller who resists a fifteen-day due diligence window is telling you something. Pay through banking channels so the payment trail is provable.

6. No verification of encumbrances

Check for a registered mortgage, an attachment in execution proceedings, a pending suit, or an injunction restraining alienation. A search at the Sub-Registrar office and an inspection of the court record will reveal most encumbrances.

7. Possession does not match the documents

Visit the property. If someone else is in occupation and claims rights, stop. Buying property in the possession of a third party means buying litigation.

If you have already been defrauded

Two remedies run in parallel: a civil suit for declaration and cancellation of the forged instrument, and criminal proceedings for forgery and cheating. Where you have been dispossessed, the Illegal Dispossession Act 2005 offers a summary remedy with the possibility of an interim order for restoration of possession.