'The deal looked perfect until...': Investment banker flags India’s most overlooked property scam

You buy the land. The documents are clean. The registry is done. The money’s gone.

Then, out of nowhere, a legal notice arrives—accusing you of trespassing on property you thought you owned.

According to investment banker Sarthak Ahuja, this isn’t rare. It’s one of the most common—and devastating—frauds in Indian real estate. “A few months later you randomly receive a legal notice asking to either vacate the property, or if it’s a piece of vacant land—saying that you do not have clear title or ownership,” he warns.

The trap is hidden in the fine print—or worse, in what’s left out. “Some sibling of the seller has a share in it, which was not disclosed to you,” Ahuja explains. In other cases, buyers are slapped with dues owed to a government department—left behind by the seller. Sometimes, it’s a dispute over the property’s exact boundary.

By then, your money is locked in a legal battle. The property can’t be used, sold, or transferred. It sits in limbo—along with your savings.

And it all begins with false confidence. “You meet the buyer, look at all the documents, verify ownership from conveyance deeds, inheritance documents, utility bills... and are happy with the documentation,” Ahuja notes. But very few people hire lawyers to perform a rigorous title check. And if the land is outside your home city, the risks rise sharply—because banks don’t finance plot purchases and skip their usual due diligence.

That’s where Title Insurance comes in. For a one-time premium—typically 0.5% to 1% of the property’s value—insurance companies run a deep title verification. If a claim shows up later, the insurer covers both your legal costs and any financial loss.