How to confirm the seller is the real owner

A genuine record and a forged CNIC is the commonest overseas fraud

Verifying the property and verifying the person are two different jobs. The land record portal confirms who the government records as owner. It cannot confirm that the man sitting in front of your cousin is that person.

The four-layer check

1. The document

• See originals, never photocopies. Photocopies are trivially altered.

• The name and CNIC on the ownership document match the CNIC being presented, character for character

• Father's name matches as well as the given name

• The document has no correction, overwriting or mismatched typeface

2. The identity

• CNIC verified through NADRA's verification service, not merely inspected

• The photograph on the CNIC matches the person

• The CNIC is current and not expired

• Where the name has changed — marriage, correction — documentary proof of the change

3. The record holder

• The society or authority confirms in writing that this CNIC is the recorded owner of this plot

• For revenue land, the fard shows this name and this CNIC

• No transfer already pending on the property

• No dues, freeze or hold recorded against it

4. The chain behind him

• How the seller acquired the property, and when

• The previous transfer letter or deed, and the one before that

• For revenue land, standard practice is to trace the title back twenty years

• Whether the property was inherited — if so, whether all heirs are accounted for

Where an attorney is selling

A power of attorney is the single most common instrument of property fraud against overseas Pakistanis, in both directions.

• The power of attorney is registered, not merely notarised

• It specifically authorises sale, not merely management or possession

• It identifies this exact property

• It has not been revoked — verify with the registering office, not with the attorney

• The principal is alive. A power of attorney dies with the principal, and any sale after death is void

• Where possible, speak to the principal directly by video call

Multiple owners and heirs

If the property was inherited, every legal heir has a share, and a sale by one heir does not bind the others. Obtain the family registration certificate, identify all heirs, and require every one of them to consent in writing — or to be represented by a valid registered power of attorney.

Sisters and daughters are frequently omitted. A sale that ignores their share is a case waiting to be filed, and it will be filed against you, not the seller.

THE PATTERN TO WATCH FOR

Genuine documents, a real plot, a real record — and a person who is not who he says he is. Everything checks out except the human being.

This is why identity verification is a separate step, and why an overseas buyer should never complete a purchase on the strength of scanned documents alone.