ILLEGAL OCCUPATION OF PROPERTY

NRIs often approach us with their misery regarding illegal occupation of property. The story takes the same form usually-they trusted somebody with their life’s assets and far away from their homeland woke up to the realisation one fine day that their property was under control of somebody else! Illegal occupation of property is one of the biggest threats for NRIs and will continue to loom large unless there is increased awareness of the precautions required.

A piece of Property is one of the most effective ways that an individual establishes his status in a society. In fact an individual’s definition of himself gets affected to a large extent by his nomenclature in context of a particular piece of property. It carries even more meaning for NRIs since their property base is a major connection with their roots. For any individual, there could be four broad scenarios regarding his property.

First, that he is the owner of the property and he resides in it himself. That would make him owner cum resident. Second, he owns the property but rents it out to somebody else in a well defined manner, ensuring that proper documentation with the legal tenant is brought into practice. In this case, every aspect of his dealing is duly covered and protected under the Rent Act of the Indian Constitution. Third, it could be possible in some unfortunate situation that some trespassers occupy the property by force. In all possibilities, he would probably be able to handle this kind of a situation since trespassers by definition would not be able to boast of any documented proof. Fourth and last, an individual does not reside in his property himself; neither does he enter into a well formulated agreement with a tenant. Instead, he appoints a caretaker for the property. This, he does, in one of the two manners-he chooses to have a ‘Leave or License’ agreement, meaning that he has given just a license or permission to the other to stay in his property as caretaker and has the right to revoke the agreement anytime. Or, on the basis of verbal assurance and trust he tells somebody to look after his property since he is far away from home and can’t afford to come frequently to look after his asset.

In cases like the last one, it has been seen often that NRIs have to pay the price of their absence-these caretakers become forced occupants, leading to increased number of problems for people who are living at such a distance. In India, prolonged occupancy tends to favour the possessor. Physical possession is everything and the possessor starts enjoying certain rights, some form of judicial protection just by virtue of being an ‘occupant’ for a long time. While this was essentially conceived to take care of any trouble that could be taken against an occupant, slowly it has become more a bane than boon. Illegal occupants end up taking advantage of these existing laws and it becomes worse for NRIs who cannot always be physically present to take care of their property or any litigation if it arises. The same scenario could also happen if there is a tenant who ends up staying forcefully and illegally occupies the property. This could be due to lack of proper checks or even sometimes, improperly drafted agreements with the tenants.

We live in a country where cultural attachments are very strong and once roots are established in property, it is not very easy to evict them when needed. One of the foremost things we always tell our clients is that if you have property; please do not let the roots of the occupant be established. On a scale of one to ten, we could easily give nine points to the actual physical possession and only about one to the strength of the paper work involved. It is important to be alert and active on this front.

The most important thing to do is to get all revenue records of the property in order. All transfers and mutations should be taken care of. In case of property being inherited an individual has to be careful about the title deed. In case it is not in his custody, then he should definitely lodge a formal police complaint for the same. Also, public notices are required in at least two local newspapers so that ownership status about the property is clear. It is also important to acquire certified copies of all documents related to the property.

Another crucial aspect is to ensure that all payments (electricity bills, water bills, telephone bills etc) are made in the owner’s name i: e all bills should be in his name. Also, all taxes need to be paid on time so that records and documentation for that particular property is in order.

            In case of any dispute related to illegal occupancy, there are various remedies available under             Civil Rights-however prevention does help.