Every market has its fraud patterns. In plotted land in Gujarat — and in Dholera specifically, because it attracts out-of-state and NRI buyers who are less familiar with local records — the ones that repeat are: (1) selling a plot that doesn't exist as described, (2) selling a plot that has already been sold to someone else, (3) selling a plot with an undisclosed encumbrance, and (4) selling under a title that is not the seller's to sell.
None of these are exotic. All of them are catchable with a checklist and a couple of hundred rupees of government fees. This post is that checklist. If a seller resists any step below, that resistance is itself the answer to whether you should proceed.
The four things you're trying to prove
Before booking, you are trying to independently establish, from records the seller does not control:
- The plot exists on the ground and on the government's records, at the boundary and area you're being sold.
- The seller owns it — clear title, no undisclosed encumbrance, no other party with rights.
- The plot has not already been sold to someone else.
- The intended use is permitted by the current zoning / master plan for that phase.
Anything the seller says about any of these is a claim, not a fact, until you have a document from an independent source confirming it.
Step-by-step: what to actually do
1. Get the survey number, sub-plot number, and layout in writing
The seller should give you:
- The survey number of the parent land parcel (a single revenue-record survey number often gets subdivided into a multi-plot layout).
- The sub-plot number within that layout being sold to you.
- The layout plan — a signed / approved drawing showing all sub-plots, roads, common areas, plot dimensions, and orientation.
- The RERA registration number for the project (see our RERA verification post for how to check this).
If any of these are absent or "coming later", stop.
2. Pull the 7/12 (Village Form VII-XII) and 8A extract
The 7/12 extract — Village Form VII-XII in Gujarat — is the primary revenue record for agricultural / non-urban land. Even for SIR-notified land, the underlying revenue record is where ownership traces back.
- Available online through AnyRoR Gujarat (anyror.gujarat.gov.in) or in person at the local Talati office.
- Verify: current owner name matches the seller you are dealing with.
- Check the remarks / entries column for any noted encumbrances, mortgages, injunctions, or disputes.
- The 8A extract shows the holdings of the seller — cross-reference.
If you don't read Gujarati, hire someone locally to pull and translate these. Do not rely on a translation the seller provides.
3. Get a title search done — 30 years, not 12
The seller may show you a title deed going back a few years. That is not enough. Ask an independent lawyer — one you found, not one the seller recommended — to do a 30-year title search [SOURCE NEEDED: confirm current standard title-search period expected for Gujarat plot transactions] tracing the chain of title through:
- Prior sale deeds
- Any partitions, gifts, or wills in the chain
- Any encumbrance certificates from the sub-registrar's office
- Any court records against the property or its previous owners
A clean title search costs a few thousand rupees and takes a couple of weeks. It's the single most important spend you'll make in this process.
4. Get the encumbrance certificate directly
An Encumbrance Certificate (EC) from the sub-registrar's office shows all registered transactions against the property over a specified period. You want:
- EC for at least the last 15 years covering the parent parcel and the specific plot.
- No unexpected mortgages, sales, or liens.
Cross-check: if the EC shows a sale of this specific plot to another buyer 8 months ago, you are being sold something that has already been sold.
5. Verify boundaries on the ground
Physically visit the plot. Bring:
- A copy of the layout plan
- A copy of the sub-plot dimensions in writing
- The survey number
- A measuring tape / measuring wheel (or hire a local surveyor for a few thousand rupees)
Walk the boundary. Verify the plot corresponds to a real, marked location on the ground, with boundary markers or reasonable reference points, matching the dimensions on the drawing. If the seller can only show you "roughly around here", that is not verification.
For NRI buyers or anyone unable to travel, hire a local due-diligence firm to do this on your behalf with a video walk-around. Multiple firms in Gujarat offer this as a standard service.
6. Check the layout against RERA-filed documents
The layout the seller shows you should be identical to the layout filed with GujRERA. If your plot number appears on the seller's brochure but not on the RERA-filed layout — or if the plot count is different — walk away.
7. Cross-check zoning and phase
For SIR-notified land, verify:
- Which phase of the SIR your plot is in
- The notified land use for your plot (residential / commercial / mixed use / industrial)
- That the intended use the seller is describing matches the notified use
You do not want to buy a "residential plot" that is notified for industrial use, or vice versa. This information is in the master plan documents [SOURCE NEEDED: reference the specific master plan document or portal where phase-wise land use maps are published].
8. Confirm payment goes to a proper project account
If the project is RERA-registered, payments must flow into a RERA-designated project bank account [SOURCE NEEDED: confirm current rule on separate project bank account and the percentage of collections deposited under GujRERA rules for plotted developments]. Ask for the account details in writing on company letterhead. If asked to pay into:
- A director's personal account
- A "sister concern" account
- Cash
— that is the point at which the answer is a hard no.
9. Read the sale agreement before signing anything
Before you sign the booking form or the sale agreement, read them line by line, and have your lawyer read them. In particular:
- Plot description matches survey number, sub-plot number, dimensions, area from the RERA layout.
- Payment schedule doesn't ask for more than the RERA-permitted advance before the sale agreement [SOURCE NEEDED: current RERA advance limit].
- Penalty and refund clauses are symmetric — you shouldn't lose the entire booking amount if the seller misses commitments.
- Delivery timelines (for plot handover with completed internal infrastructure) are specified with dates, not "estimated".
- Force majeure clauses aren't drafted to cover the seller against every foreseeable delay.
- Common area maintenance obligations are clear.
The one-page red-flag list
Any of these, on their own, should end the conversation:
- Seller can't produce a RERA registration number for this specific project.
- Owner name on 7/12 doesn't match seller.
- Title search reveals a break, dispute, or undisclosed encumbrance.
- Encumbrance certificate shows a sale of this plot to another party.
- Layout on the brochure doesn't match the RERA-filed layout.
- Plot dimensions on the ground don't match the drawings.
- Seller asks for payment to a personal or unrelated account.
- Seller pressures a booking before you can complete the checklist above.
- Seller resists you bringing your own lawyer or surveyor.
Buyers lose money to these patterns every year. All of them are avoidable.
Our side of this
We keep our RERA numbers, layout documents, and phase / land-use references on the Trust & Legitimacy section of the site so you can start due diligence before we've even spoken. If you're comparing us to another seller, run the checklist above on both of us and see which one holds up.
If you'd like the document pack for a specific plot, or want a video walk-around before booking a site visit, message us on WhatsApp. We'd rather send documents than close a deal that falls apart in due diligence.
Nothing in this post is legal advice. Verification steps and current rules change; confirm specifics with a qualified lawyer.