By: Riya Alka
This is the story of the plight of a family who wanted to sell off the house. What they got in exchange was a series of harassment by the property dealer. What makes this individual experience a case study and a newsworthy item is the fact that in the absence of any regulation, how the petty local goons are operating as property dealers. The stark reality of the world of property dealers and their nexus cries for reforms in the sector and raise a very valid question-if this is what is happening in the capital city of India, what would be the state of affairs in smaller towns where the property market and corresponding law and order of the city is mostly in shambles.
The said property in question was in the joint name of the in-laws of Anubhav Shinde (name changed on request). After the death of father, it was converted in the name of mother and daughter, either or survivor. They sold it in the year 2008 through a local property dealer who came along with a buyer who was actually an investor. They had the tacit understanding to buy the property and share the profit on actual sale later. The fact was concealed to the sellers of the property, and these middle men acted very polished till the time of transaction.
They were given the token money and the price was fixed at 45 lakhs. The gullible Shindes actually needed a bigger house and they used the token money amount to buy the new house. But their happiness to exchange token amount from one hand to another and get into a new house soon was only short lived. The polished outlook and the assurance of the dealer that they would get adequate time to hand over the property, collect the payment, and move into a new house without any hassle was just assurance.
Once the token amount was given by the dealer, he started showing his true colours and gave an ultimatum of one month to settle everything. Even for a person with a fair track record and no history of financial default against his name, a bank loan for the new house within a short span of 30 days was just impossible. The loan proceedings took its own time and with it started the story of harassment by the property dealer. He started visiting the house in the absence of male members, promising them even financial help and pressurized for property papers in exchange of that.
The story of harassment didn’t end here. In the meantime, he introduced another buyer saying that the earlier one had backed out of the deal. With contracts signed and token amount exchanged, the Shindes had no choice but to entertain him. He even started threatening the family by repeated phone calls. A timely intervention by the local police through some common contacts though saved them. But then the plight and harassment of the family clearly indicates the shady deals in property market taking place and there are no concrete guidelines to protect or educate the gullible property buyers.
(The Family shared its story to Track2Realty requesting anonymity and hence name has been changed. Idea is to just educate the property buyers)
