Buying a property in Bangladesh is considered a major achievement in life. Whenever somebody buys a flat, they are filled with joy and pride. However, the real estate industry in our country is filled with scam artists and dishonest people. Numerous times, we heard stories of how a single piece of land or property was sold to multiple people at the same time and the realtor fled with the money.
Due to such issues, a lot of people are scared to move forward with purchasing their desired property. They are being denied of fulfilling their dreams because they are scared of being hoodwinked in this form of investment.
However, there is a way to know if certain properties are free from this trouble and it is called property vetting. It is a series of steps that one has to do to ensure that a property in question is safe from any sort of hassle, authentic and if anyone purchases it, he would become the rightful owner of the said property.
In the process of vetting, there are a total of nine long steps one has to follow. They are as followed;
Step 1: Gathering information about the property: One has to find information about the plot number, Khatiyan number, current possessor and the holding number. They need to be collected to check the legitimacy of the property.
Step 2: Validate the authenticity of the title deed: The next step one has to take is to verify the Title Deed at the Sub Registry Office. If the property in question has been inherited, then the Partition Deed [Bonton Nama] needs to be verified along with the Title Deed of the predecessor.
Step 3: Establish the chain of ownership: This is where the history of the property's ownership needs to be established through Via Deeds. These are the Title Deeds of the previous owners. These can be obtained by checking the Sub Registry office.
Step 4: Check the mutation Khatiyan: This particular step is done to check if the current owner's name is absent in the latest Khatiyan or the Title Deed. During this process, one has to check the three mutation documents; the Mutation Proposal Letter, which is otherwise known as the Namjari Jomavag Prostabpotro, the Duplicate Carbon Rashid [DCR], and the Mutation Khatiyan.
Step 5: Verify the Khatiyan: Khatiyan is also known as Porcha or Record of Rights. This can be obtained from the local Land office or Tohsil office, DC office, AC Land office and Land survey office. Once you recover the name in the Khatiyan, it should be verified against the history provided in the deed.
Step 6: Confirm the NOC and the NEC: Once those five steps are completed, one has to check for No Objection Certificate [NOC] provided by a financial organisation and Non-Encumbrance Certificate [NEC] of the property issued by the Sub Registry office. This is done to ensure that there are no standing charges against the property.
Step 7: Analyze the Land Tax Receipts: It is of utmost importance to analyze all land development tax or Khajna records up to the latest year on a particular piece of property. Any sort of missing records or receipts means there may be an encumbrance on the property. Unless this is cleared, it is going to come back and cause you great stress in the future. It's also necessary to check if the holding tax is up to date.
Step 8: Review the building plan and its approval: In recent times we have seen numerous buildings that have been built in violation of the plans approved by RAJUK. Those buildings' owners are facing charges and some have been asked to be demolished. So, to prevent such hassles, it is important to review the building plan and check whether the building actually matches the said plan. Also, ensure that the plans have been approved by local authorities such as RAJUK.
Step 9: The final step in property vetting involves physically verifying the property in question. One has to check whether there is an issue with the state, ownership, or possession of the property.
These are the nine long steps by which one can check the authenticity of property. It might look very easy but in reality, these are long, tedious and complex work that often discourages people from actually going through with them. As a result, they remain prone to being hoodwinked by dishonest realtors and middlemen.
The only property solutions provider, Bproperty, provides numerous property-related solutions to the people of Bangladesh, and one of their many services includes property vetting. They are known for their quick and efficient work which can help you complete this tedious task of property vetting.
If one wishes to buy a property it is of absolute importance that they get their property vetted first. They can do it on their own or take the help of a third party. Only after the property is properly vetted, they can rest assured of its safety and security.
Advocate Md. Moslehuddin Sadi Khan is Manager, Legal Support
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