Pune Homebuyers Can Soon Check Illegal Properties Online

Conducting a due diligence of a property is considered to be a crucial step before a homebuyer or an investor makes a buying decision. There are times when a disputed property is sold illegally without informing the buyer about the dispute. To bring a stop to this practice, the Maharashtra government has designed a plan of action that would help real estate buyers and investors to search for any revenue-related dispute or litigation on a property without involving lawyers or any middleman.

The Inspectorate General of Stamps and Registration (IGR) will soon add this feature for buyers as well as, an e-search facility which was only accessible by the IGR officials. With regular updating of the revenue records, the e-search facility would be providing details of litigation or loan-related disputes of all properties in every region. Moreover, apart from the revenue cases, the department might list court cases as well that would help homebuyers before signing the deal.

How Can Buyers Check Disputed Property?

The IGR website (http://igrmaharashtra.gov.in/) will publish a link on the e-search facility which active for coming three months. Currently, the login is available for the department. Once live, the buyers would be able to search for properties and disputes related to it, if any. Apart from this, the website also provides features such as e-payment facility for stamp duty and registration charges, stamp duty calculator, property valuation, land records etc.

This step, welcomed by homebuyers, is expected to protect the first-time homebuyers who are unaware about such malpractices. The entire facility would include a website or a separate link for banks, financial corporations, and institutions to upload details of the immovable properties that have been mortgaged by the borrower. All this information put together will help a homebuyer to check on a property's current status both financially and legally.

To curb illegal properties in the city, Pune Municipal Corporation is undertaking GIS*-based mapping system for residential properties. So far, over 2.5 lakh homes have been mapped for which door-to-door and the information has been uploaded. There are over eight lakh properties in PMC, of which 33 per cent have been assessed. The entire process would take another six months to be completed.

*GIS: Geographic Information System