Tips for owners, buyers of properties, notaries and authorities to prevent land scams.

1. PROTECT
YOUR
PROPERTY
FROM LAND
SCAMS
By
Ajithaa Edirimane LLB (Colombo) MLB (Hamburg)
Attorney-at-Law & Notary Public, Sri -Lanka

2. LAND SCAMS
Development leads to increase in market price of properties
especially in urban areas and in places with high income potential
(i.e. popular tourist areas and industrial zones) .This opens doors for
fraudsters bent on making easy money whereever opportunities
arise due to legal loopholes, lax regulatory procedures and
negligence of owners and Notaries.
To stop land scams….
• What should the owners do?
• What should the Notaries do?
• What should the Authorities do?

3. By Madura RanwalaMarch March 12, 2014, 9:14 pm
By Madura Ranwala
The 56 forged folios, 110 original deeds, old stamps dating back to 1957 and the seals
used to make forged documents taken into custody by the Criminal Investigations
Department sleuths onTuesday night from a suspect’s residence. Pic courtesy police
media.

4. The scam came to light when an engineer, who bought an acre of land
in Malabe for Rs. 42 million to build a solar power project there,
wanted to sell the land after her project failed.
However, the potential second buyer had checked the title report on
the property with the Kaduwela Municipality only to find it belonged
to the Urban DevelopmentAuthority, but not to the engineer from
whom he wanted to buy the land.
According to investigations being conducted, the fraudsters had
pasted a forged folio in the register to the effect that the land
belonged to the main suspect, who had sold it to the engineer.

5. The land grab in Malabe had the
involvement of someone employed at
the Land Registry;
to locate the relevant Registers,
tear off pages; and
paste altered pages to the Registers with
painstaking attention to detail that even
experienced Notaries were fooled.

6. The other methods adopted to steal properties -
1. Arranging the execution of a Deed ofTransfer with
the forged signature of the actual owner.
2. Forging seals of dead Notaries or making seals under
fictitious names.
3. Encroaching on properties of owners living abroad
and registering a Declaration of possession based on
prescriptive rights.
4. Acquiring the property of a deceased owner by filing
forged court documents

7. What should the owners do?
• The Criminal Investigation Department of Sri Lanka advises –
– The public to check their title deeds with the relevant Land Registry
to confirm that their original folios were not torn from the Registry
books.
– Ask the seller for his photograph when you buy the land, a land
phone number to contact, check it with the relevant local authority
land record book.
– use a bank draft to pay purchase price and see if the land that is to
be sold is below the market price.

8. What should the
Notaries do?
1. Be cautious when checking title and never accept the
recommendation given by a clerk unless you can cross check
with certified copies of Land Registry Extracts.
2. Do not be pressurized by a buyer and disregard the need to
verify the title, even though the buyer happens to know the
seller
3. Check the Identity Card/s of the Seller/s before the
transaction and find out the background of the owner. If you
have doubts enlighten your client.
4. Do not agree to a clause in a Sales Agreement whereby the
Buyer is required to accept the title of the Seller regardless of
any deficiencies. (This happens in condominium related
transactions where the Developer insists on conditions.)
5. Request the Seller to provide an Affidavit to substantiate
his/her ownership and duration of ownership.
6. Request the Seller to give an Indemnity to compensate the
Buyer if he/she incurs a loss and is deprived of the property.

9. What should the Notaries do?
7. Arrange a photograph to be taken of the execution of the Deed of
Transfer showing the parties to the transaction.
8. Obtain the thumb impression of the Seller on the Deed of
Transfer.
9. Get the full names and particulars of witnesses including the
residential addresses and request the Witnesses to signAffidavits
affirming that the Seller is known to them.
10. Attach the Affidavits , Indemnity and photographs to the Deed of
Transfer when submitting the same for registration.
11. Maintain a record of each SalesTransaction with the request from
the Buyer to attend to the sale obtained in writing, copies of all of
the above documents, Land Registry Day Book Receipt, and
copies of extracts of folios, etc. for future reference.
12. Register a Caveat on the property after registering the Deed of
Transfer (This method does not entirely prevent subsequent
registration of Deeds, as the Registries will continue to register
subsequent deeds after giving notice to the Caveator)

10. What should the
Authorities do?
• AUTHORITIES AND INSTITUTIONS
• Registrar General and Land Registrars
• Relevant Ministries and Municipal & Urban Development Authorities
• Police
• Courts
- Land Registrars should take immediate action against errant employees as
such land scams CANNOTTAKE PLACEWITHOUT ASSISTANCE FROM
ERRANT EMPLOYEES within the Land Registries.
- Land Registrars should keep the public informed of land scams by placing
Notices at the Registries and by sending such notices to the Bar
Association of Sri Lanka and to the Law Society who should take steps to
notify their respective membership.
- Land Registrars should assist the Police, Bar Association and courts to take
immediate action against errant employees, Notaries and fraudsters.
- Names of errant Notaries should be given due publicity to warn the public
- Change the penal laws to enable the punishment to fit the crime and
enable the police to seize the properties (both movable and immovable) of
fraudsters and their immediate family to compensate the victim.
- It should be the bounden duty of lawyers, judges and the Authorities to
expedite land fraud cases, if the public is to have faith in the system.
URGENT ACTION
NEEDED

11. To stop land scams…
Owners should be alert;
Notaries should be cautious; and
Authorities should be diligent and impose
sanctions without fear and favour.
Thieves respect property. They merely wish the property to become their property
that they may more perfectly respect it. ~G.K. Chesterton

12. I gratefully acknowledge the
information given and contribution
made by Mrs. Keerthimala
Gunasekera,Attorney-at-Law, Sri
Lanka
Ajithaa Edirimane
ajithaa2001@yahoo.com
20 March 2014