Impressed, he came back to YMI for plot monitoring service as he felt that it was a safer bet than depending on a watchman, who he would probably meet only once in 2 years. When we made our first visit to the site, our team immediately noticed two major issues:

• The presence of an old well on one side of the property. Due to heavy rains, the soil had sunk by about 5 to 6 feet which now exposed this hidden well.


• A few miscreants were trying to take advantage of the client's absence by placing a board stating that the property is a litigated one and warning people not to deal with it. This is a standard ploy adopted by illegal encroachers to grab properties, when it is known that the owner lives overseas.

Our Bangalore team immediately checked with our legal team and got an assurance that the property papers were in order and there was nothing to worry about. We also advised him to fill the hole created by the now defunct well. Shaken by the signs of threat to his property, Shankar decided to sell out and wanted YMI to handle the whole transaction. We took the assignment and informed him that we will try to find a buyer by being transparent about the presence of the well. Shankar agreed.

YMI found a willing buyer in 2 months and handled the transaction end to end. Few documents that were not available with Shankar were procured from the concerned government authority and with the help of an adjudicated POA the registration was successfully completed. Despite Shankar's approval to sell the property at a slight discount to market rates, YMI was able to sell it on par and thereby get good returns on his first property investment in India

Impressed with the professional approach, transparent dealing and dedicated efforts to protect the client's interests at all times, he immediately came back to YMI with a request to re-invest the money into a property with clear titles in Bangalore. Shankar short-listed a few properties and gave it to YMI for verification. Some of them did not stand up to the legal scrutiny and hence were immediately dropped.

Finally we helped him zero in on a property on Hosur Road in Bangalore. W coordinated with the seller and collected all the property papers. Title was checked by our lawyers and the document's authenticity was checked by our representatives at the respective Government offices that issued the documents. Upon satisfaction, we negotiated the price on behalf of Shankar and helped him close the deal. With a specific POA issued in favor of YMI, we completed the registration and followed that up with collection of all the property papers like Encumbrance certificate, Khata certificate and Property tax paid receipt.

Upon closure of the property deal, Shankar promptly placed an order for monitoring this property on a fortnightly basis. The place is being managed by YMI and a signage on the property displays this and has contact numbers for people to get in touch. The regular visits apart, the signage helps keep away illegal encroachers or potential miscreants.

With his confidence restored, now Shankar set his eyes on further property investments in Bangalore. We thoroughly researched properties that were available for purchase and finalized a property on Kanakpura Road, Bangalore.

We coordinated with the seller, collected papers, and got the legal verification & authenticity check done. Finally with a specific POA issued by Shankar the property was registered by YMI. Post sale, transfer of all ancillary documents to client's name was carried out. YMI completed this entire task within a month.

Next Shankar wanted us to fence this property. We readily initiated the work. But to our surprise when our executive went with our empanelled vendor to visit the plot, they were stopped by a gang of local musclemen who laid claim to the property and threatened our executive with dire consequences. We briefed our lawyers and organized a meeting with the purported owners (the musclemen) and to our shock, they possessed a similar set of Govt department issued property documents like Sale deed, Encumbrance certificate, Khata certificate and Property tax. They also had a loan approval letter from a leading Housing Finance Company. Our lawyers who had done the legal verification were at a complete loss, but diligently initiated more investigation into the matter.

Shankar was stunned beyond reaction with the turn of events. His confidence with property investments once again ebbed to negative. As an immediate confidence building measure, we gave Shankar direct access to our legal head and assured him that we will investigate and keep him informed at every step.

It was a serious challenge to YMI's capabilities and reputation. We formed a special team to tackle this problem head on. Our lawyers had diligently made a mental note of the reference number of the document they were shown by the other party. A group of people were assigned the job of getting a copy of all the property papers (the other party possessed) from the sub-registrar's office. Another team was dispatched to the court to verify the family tree and to pick some critical documents that showed the evidence of all the previous owners for the last 50 years. It took our expert team nearly 20 days of dedicated efforts to trace everything and solve the puzzle.

The modus operandi was to create a perfect set of forged documents dating back to 20 years prior with an almost similar name of a past owner from the family tree. Then get the document registered under a different layout name but under the same survey number. On the basis of this registration, all ancillary documents were procured which were real and original. Then the thugs approach new buyers in that layout and threaten them that they can only enjoy peaceful possession by shelling out a further compensation (Rs.10 lakhs plus) as a proportion of the actual market value. It is still a mystery as to how the registration of that property (other party) happened and as to how the housing finance company could have extended a loan to the other party without proper due diligence.

On the basis of complaints from harassed owners and mounting pressure from the public, the Police took action on the thugs. YMI represented Shankar in these proceedings. After the culprits were brought to book, YMI fenced the plot and has been monitoring it on a fortnightly basis. There have been no signs of any local threats after this incident. Shankar plans to construct a house there, in the near future.

Shankar has used YMI for various things in the past including end-to-end property management services, procurement of documents, visa assistance, PAN card registration etc.He knows what it is takes to protect, manage and enhance his property investments.