We have had NRIs come to us looking for property eviction lawyers as they face the issue of illegal possession of property. It is the most common property dispute NRIs face as they are unaware of the steps that they can take to avoid the situation.
They make investments using their hard earned money to secure their future if they return to India or to earn profits by selling the land at the higher price on a later date. But with the change in time and due to unfortunate experiences, the investment in India has reduced as people fear for the safety of the property.
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Why do NRIs seek the help of Property Eviction Lawyers?
The NRIs pursue property eviction lawyers so that the legal aids can assist them in protecting their land from trespassers, encroachers and illegal possessors.
The easiest targets of the trespassers or encroachers are the Open properties that NRIs buy as investments.
Property can be taken over illegally in two ways. These are:
- Usage of forged documents by trespassers to challenge the legal owner’s rights and forcing them to send the land at a value much lower than the true value.
- Refusal to vacate the property by a tenant even after expiration of the lease or tenancy period and thus, overstaying illegally against owner’s will.
Thus, it is necessary for the NRIs to know about the choices available at their disposal to protect their property from the trespassers.
Protection of the property:
To prevent illegal possession of the asset, an NRI can:
- Make use of a Special Power of Attorney (POA) to give specific rights to a trustworthy friend or relative who can regularly check the property.
- Retain all the original and updated documents related to the property such as registered sale deeds, title deed, possession letters, tax bills, maintenance receipts, telephone and electricity bills, etc. with one’s self.
- Take help from an expert property lawyer to implement any legal documents such as lease agreement, tenancy agreement, and caretaker agreement.
- Before signing any legal document, enquire and aware one’s self about all the laws regarding the maintenance of assets, lease, or eviction of tenants.
- Provide written information about the property and one’s absence from India to the police.
- In order to prevent any trouble in future, register and present a photocopy of the tenancy agreement to the police after execution.
- Interact and stay in touch with the neighbours and managers of the building so that if anything illegal happens to the property, they inform the owner.
- Have regular visits to the property so that the locals can know about the owner of the property and people don’t consider it an easy target for trespassing.
It may happen that even after taking all the necessary, precautionary steps, following each and every law, one becomes a target of illegal possession of property. If this happens, one shouldn’t make any delay in taking mandatory steps, such as seeking help from property eviction lawyers, to get his/ her property back.