Promises to make property transactions secure and hassle free
As the ancient Persian saying goes, all the world's miseries stem from either “zar, zan aur zamin“ (wealth, woman or land). So, by that logic, onethird of the world's disputes arise out of property ownership. It is also apparent when one looks at the case loads of various courts that deal with land disputes. Thus, the government's Land Titling Bill is a step in the right direction.
The bill proposes to create the Land Titling Authority which would create, update, maintain, control, disseminate and adjudicate land titles. Revolutionary initiatives like creation of unique property identification number, title insurance mechanism, register of disputes, valuation and self assessmen mechanism, land titling tribunal, are just a few highlights of the proposed bill.
Since the purpose of the creation of this bill is to reduce, if not eliminate, anomalies in land titles, it shall equally benefit buyers as well as sellers.
It is proposed that title documents will capture intrinsic characteristics of the property like mortgages, charges, liens, pending actions, transaction history, etc. Gullible home buyers, who are extremely vulnerable to title deed manipulations by unscrupulous developers, could soon have a mechanism at their disposal to check the health and relia bility of the titles before committing to the purchase.Added features like provision of valuations of the properties (and regular updates thereof) would make it easy for owners, more than buyers and sellers, to keep a tab on the worth of the property at any given time. The bill proposes a central property valuation division that will maintain a register of property valuation. This would be regularly updated. Such information will also be placed in the public domain and shall enable auto-calculation of stamp-duty, registration fee and other levies. The system shall also provide for t titleholders to seek valuations upon request.
The bill also provides for legal services and title guarantee. It proposes to set up a title guarantee fund. The proposal keeps the option open for title guarantee through private parties/insurers.
People can now take advantage of such guarantees and indemnifications for more dependable transaction deeds.
For disputes arising out of the titling system, the bill proposes setting up a tribunal with powers equivalent to a civil court to adjudicate the disputes. The tribunal shall hear appeals against the orders of the titling authority and adjudicate claims preferred for payments of compensation out of the title guarantee fund. This will also reduce the burden of the civil courts.
The bill also proposes to impose numerous responsibilities on people. It might make it compulsory for people to declare any changes in their titles. They have to compulsorily provide intimation of any civil suits, appeals, revisions, equitable mortgages, statutory charges, pending actions, power of attorney, grant of succession, or transaction.
Penalties are prescribed for willful concealment of information or deliberate furnishing of false information to the authority.
The implementation of the bill will be a huge challenge for the government. The creation of the authority, the tribunal, the survey system, legal services and valuation cell, too will be an uphill task.
Regular updates of features like valuation will require an infrastructure that currently does not exist.
Thus, if intent and conviction to take this initiative forward are to be relied upon, this bill can make a huge difference to people, government and judiciary alike.
