The Central Electronic Registry (CER), the entity to be floated by the National Housing Bank (NHB) soon to keep track of all mortgages in the home loan market, has several lacunae. For one, said an advocate, it won’t contain information of properties (land and flat) which have been purchased without availing loan.
“The CER would not have this record as the registry is concerned with data where loans are taken. One should ideally have got such record from the registration department, but they have failed miserably in maintaining records of all transactions for years. So, what is the avenue for a genuine home buyer to protect his hard earned money?” questioned an advocate.
Moreover, the CER has no means to verify the authenticity of the documents. It cannot verify whether the address, name and photograph attached are that of the owner/seller.
“In many cases, frauds have taken place with active participation of bank officials with the fraud developer/loan taker. Loans are approved with only barely noticeable changes in the name.
Instead of Vishal M Shah, the loan taker’s name is slightly changed to Vishal Shah or the fraudster changes the first and last page giving the property details. How will the CER address this issue?’’ said a property expert.
Acknowledging such frauds (with connivance of bank officials) are still possible, RV Verma, executive director, NHB, said the bank has to continue to take all steps to prevent such instances.
“The CER should in no way restrict a bank from carrying out due diligence of the property before disbursing the loan. Apart from
carrying out a search (verifying the land title) at the registration office, the bank has to visit the property, see who is staying there, check the loan-taker’s financial status, etc,” said Verma.
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