A lawyer with good knowledge of the law is stronger than a hundred men with guns.
In July 2021, I came across a golden money-making opportunity through an old-time friend. He offered me a steal deal in which I was offered to buy a multi-storey commercial property of around 2000 Square feet in a prime location in Mumbai, India.
The value was unbelievable and well supported with authentic documents of land authorities, government authorities, and municipal corporations. My friend and his partner portrayed an urgency of money due to some other business investments. They had both decided to liquidate the commercial property and use the money elsewhere for better investments. Being a money-minded person, I am always attracted to deals that come half the market price and stand in a prime location. For sure, you can’t go wrong in making 4x times your investments with such a golden opportunity coming your way. Since the offer was too good to be true, I was a little skeptical and greedy, both simultaneously. The investment amount wasn’t small, but the idea of getting a property worth 6 million HKD for 2 million HKD was pulling me constantly.
To scrutinize the deal, I visited the property several times and spoke to several people staying in the same area. All of them were mentioned precisely, as was presented to me by both the partners. The owners’ names were the same as per the legal papers, the property valuation was correct, and also the property was already giving an excellent rental yield. Upon my first round of field checks, I collected copies of all the property papers from my friend, verified them personally one-on-one with the government authorities, and found everything perfect and legal. I discussed the proposal with my wife, and we both did a second round of meetings with the sellers. My wife also felt everything to be genuine.
I was about to seal the deal and arrange the funds when my sixth sense, or you can say an external heavenly voice, was still telling me that something was undoubtedly fishy in the deal. Listening to the external voice, I decided to consult a lawyer who can help me check all property documents and can also help me to process the entire sales purchase agreement.
I contacted Advocate Dharmendra Damani through our building’s legal case WhatsApp group. Adv. Damani was already handling a dispute between our society and our building developer. I already had a good image and reputation about Damani’s legal firm, from how our society’s legal matter was handled. Adv. Damani quickly gave me an appointment and discussed my matter patiently. Upon his request, I submitted all the property for sale papers and documents for his checking. After a few days, Adv. Damani requested a joint meeting with the sellers to discuss a few points with them. Overall, even Adv. Damani also felt everything was OK with the papers and title, and in principle, I can go ahead with purchasing their property.
However, Adv. Damani was also not sure why the sellers were selling the property at half the price, wherein even if they would mortgage the property with any bank, they could get more than 50% of its valuation. Something was surely fishy.
Adv. Damani and I met with the sellers and discussed all sales purchase clauses. While I was 90% sure that everything was perfect with the sales agreement, I arranged for 50% of the payment to be ready. Adv. Damani was still feeling fishy about the deal, so he asked for 3-4 days before we could sign the official sale-purchase agreement. These 3-4 days were crucial as they saved me from falling into a ditch.
After four days of detailed investigation done by Adv, Damani found that the land on which the entire commercial building was developed, was land allotted to the sellers due to road cutting of their previous land. After road cutting, the sellers were supposed to get their new land in a total of 5 parts. The land on which this existing property was developed was built on three parts, and the allotment of two more parts was still not completed. The land sellers were officially and legally the owners of the land and property. However, since two parts of the land allotment were still not completed, I would never become 100% owner of the entire three parts of the land as the government had approved the land-based distribution on five parts and not just three parts. This was a highly complex detail to find out and something that even the sellers were unaware of. The property sellers, my friend, and his partner were not cheating or doing anything wrong, but they were also not aware of such a clause by the land registry department of Maharashtra.
Adv. Damani researched this clause in depth by going through over 1000 pages of the land registry and allotment of land policy in Maharashtra. He also confirmed the same by personally contacting some officials from the related government departments.
After rigorous rounds of going back and forth with my sellers, myself, and the government officials, Adv, Damani advised me not to invest in this property and land.
Imagine if Adv. Damani was not involved. I would have purchased the property, and I am still unsure if I would or would not be the legal owner.
Hence, I say, one man with his expert knowledge in his field of law and good contacts is stronger than a hundred men with guns. As of now, Adv. Damani is handling two more legal cases for me, and I’m sure he will make me a winner in both.
Advocate Dharmendra Damani, is available for anyone in need of legal help in India. He can be reached at +91-9920102232 and is located at Damani & Damani Advocated and Legal Consultants, 8 Parasmani, Opp. Joggers Psrk, Chikoowadi, Borivali West, Mumbai – 400092, +91-2228994149 (Office), 28994145 (Residence),
E-mail : damanianddamani@gmail.com, advdamani@gmail.com, www.damanianddamani.com
