India Real Estate Property Frauds

[2letservice]

I have recently read an article on RealEstateTimes.in. One needs to be careful while selecting builders, developers and realtors in India. There are people who have been cheated in the investment market.

[maneel.com]

absolutely true.. its very easy to get cheated in India..

[Anthony]

So who are the good guys then.
I am doing some initial research into investing in India and also possiblt promoting it if I feel I can provide good and safe investment opportunities for my investor clients.

Anthony
SPC Overseas

[andyk2]

Originally Posted by Anthony

So who are the good guys then.
I am doing some initial research into investing in India and also possiblt promoting it if I feel I can provide good and safe investment opportunities for my investor clients.

Anthony
SPC Overseas

Hi Tony,

I, too, have been looking at the possibilty of organising investment opportunities in India, but one issue keeps biting me in the Punjab - how does an investor legally get any profit out of India? It seems that the laws of the Indian government allow you to remove from India the same amount as you put in, but it is impossible (legally) to get any profit out. None of our esteemed correspondants from India seem to be able to answer this question despite their willingness to get our clients to part with their money. Any ideas?

Andy

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by andyk2

Hi Tony,

I, too, have been looking at the possibilty of organising investment opportunities in India, but one issue keeps biting me in the Punjab - how does an investor legally get any profit out of India? It seems that the laws of the Indian government allow you to remove from India the same amount as you put in, but it is impossible (legally) to get any profit out. None of our esteemed correspondants from India seem to be able to answer this question despite their willingness to get our clients to part with their money. Any ideas?

Andy

Sorry bud, I don´t have an answer to that.
Also, I have been advised by Indian investors of mine who are in UK that they themselves are being very cautious for fear of laws and regulations on taxable gains being changed on a whim for expats. I don´t at this stage have sufficient knowledge on India to express an informed opinion, so I am very much in questioning mode.

[vikram]

The principal amount invested by you can be taken out of india at any point of time. the profits can be repatriated after paying capital gains tax which is in short term around 33% approx.

Reinvest your profits in real estate to avoid the above tax in the short term.. to know further you can contact me swiftproperty007@googlemail.com

[JMBroad]

From what I can gather;

Repatriation of sale proceeds

In the event of sale of immovable property other than agricultural land/ farm house/ plantation property in India by NRI/PIO, the authorised dealer will allow repatriation of sale proceeds outside India provided;

i) the immovable property was acquired by the seller in accordance with the provisions of the foreign exchange law in force at the time of acquisition by him or the provisions of FEMA Regulations;

ii) the amount to be repatriated does not exceed (a) the amount paid for acquisition of the immovable property in foreign exchange received through normal banking channels or out of funds held in Foreign Currency Non- Resident Account or (b) the foreign currency equivalent as on the date of payment, of the amount paid where such payment was made from the funds held in Non-Resident External account for acquisition of the property.

iii) In the case of residential property, the repatriation of sale proceeds is restricted to not more than two such properties.

iv) In the case of sale of immovable property purchased out of Rupee funds, ADs may allow the facility of repatriation of funds out of balances held by NRIs/PIO in their Non-resident Rupee (NRO) accounts upto US$ 1 mio per calendar year, provided that the property has been held for a period not less than 10 years or for a combined period of 10 years partly as property and as sale proceeds in NRO account and subject to production of undertaking by the remitter and a certificate from the Chartered Accountant in the formats prescribed by the CBDT.

Everything seems to be focused only towards NRI's and PIO's mainly because according to this legislation, only NRI's and PIO's are allowed to buy immovable property in India (and even then excluding agricultural land/ farm house/ plantation property).

This is the only official information I was sent but I can't validate the age of the document or it's relevance to buying property in India in 2007 and beyond.

[newguest]

Take a look at AJ property Europe's web site. They have a section on India with a FAQ that may cover many of the issues being raised.

[nancyarora2020]

Watch out! Real estate frauds in India are on an upswing. Believe me, if you are not careful, your life’s savings could be at risk.There is no doubt that booming markets invariably bring with it unsavory people, who try to make some fast money through illegal routines. This is more or less the state of the India’s property market at this point of time.It has come into the notice that there are developers who sell the same piece of land to number of customers, those who sell land without clear titles, those who construct without mandatory permissions from the authorities, those who violate building by-laws and those who flout sanctioned plans.Even advertisements that quote the government department approval numbers are no guarantee that the approval has actually been obtained. The question now arises: What should a buyer do?First and foremost, it is important that you check the developer’s credentials and track record, check how long they have been in the business and whether they have delivered good products. In addition, you can also visit the other properties built by the developer.Second — this is quite pivotal if you are going to an unorganized sector player — check for yourself, the titles of the land and make sure the developer has obtained all approvals for the project or employ a lawyer for this purpose. Also, in the course of construction, make sure the developer is going as per the sanctioned plan.If experts are to be believed, there are developers who claim that the project has the approval of certain banks. Quite a number of times, such approvals come from a single branch of a bank and are not the result of any thorough scrutiny by the bank. It is worthwhile pointing that even banks are under pressure to disburse maximum amount of loans and consequently some of them skip scrutiny. Therefore, please, do your own scrutiny.