In Cambodia, real estate ownership can be hard or soft, and sometimes the two kinds of property rights may coexist. So the owner will use this loophole to sell the house to two buyers. A buyer gets soft property rights and a buyer gets hard property rights.
People with soft property rights will lose their houses. Because hard property right is a powerful form of property ownership in Cambodia, it is also a guaranteed land property right. The certificate of hard title is issued by the State Bureau of Land Management and Planning.
Although, soft property rights are also a form of land property rights recognized by the local government. However, soft property rights are issued by local governments, not by the state. Compared with soft property rights, hard property rights are more durable and reliable. There have been many similar scams in Cambodia in the past.
Solution:
You can get the title certificate and a copy from the seller, and then investigate and verify it through the registration of the Ministry of Land Planning and Construction and the local land management office. This will prevent this from happening. Another safety measure is that you can ask your neighbors if they have hard property rights. If these neighbors have hard property rights, it means that the government has granted hard property rights to this area. You know, in most areas with hard property rights, soft property rights are generally not arranged.
Scam 2: hiding disputed land
This kind of fraud has almost nothing to do with owning soft property rights and hard property rights, and is mainly related to land disputes. Usually, as long as you communicate with your neighbors more, the disputed land can basically surface. But in order to ensure safety, you still need to confirm whether the land is disputed through the county/district Council or the officials of the Ministry of Land and Resources.
Solution:
A professional real estate agent or a lawyer with real estate transaction experience can help you.
Scam 3: Cheat the deposit
The fake owner cheated the deposit. This scam mainly requires buyers to pay a deposit, but the fake owners will disappear after they get the deposit.
In order to avoid this situation, you can choose to keep the money in a reliable bank account of a third party or intermediary until all the formalities are completed, so as to protect yourself from being cheated.
Solution:
The properties used by fake owners to defraud are generally vacant. So, what you can do is to ask the neighbors and the village head for information about this property and the history of the owner. See if there is any difference between what they said and what the seller said.
Thirdly, the inspection of property right certificate is very important. If the owner doesn't have a title certificate, there is a problem. Before reaching a deal, you must go to the relevant department to confirm the identity of the owner.
Scam 4: Renting and reselling.
Long-term rental housing can be separated from the land and registered as an independent entity. You can also use soft property rights to sell houses. This is a very complicated situation and should be treated with caution. Checking the property right certificate can distinguish the authenticity. Attention should be paid to the necessary details of hard property rights.
Solution:
If there are only soft property rights, you should ask the local authorities for help. Preliminary inspection of the house, please pay attention to whether there are any rooms in the house that the seller will not open. If they really want to sell their house, they must be willing to open the door or hand in the room key.
Deception 5: Invisible damage
Some people sell their houses at a low price because there are damages in this house that you may not see, and you will not find them until you officially move in.
Solution: Before concluding the transaction, it is best to bring professionals to check whether there are any problems with the water and electricity system and the building structure of the house.
Deception 6: flood-stricken areas
"Non-flood area" is one of the selling points of the housing market. So some sellers will vigorously promote that the area where the house is located is a non-flood area, even if there is a flood there. Therefore, once the rain pours in, this area will face unimaginable disasters.
Solution: One of the best ways to prevent this kind of house is to consult local residents.
Scam 7: Cheat money and leave
In one case, the so-called developer advertised a new project, and as a result, he collected money from the buyer and promised to use it to build a house, but after getting the money, he disappeared without a trace.
Solution:
In order to avoid this situation, you can carefully investigate the past project history of the developer. A trustworthy developer usually has a good reputation. But please note that I'm not saying that all new developers are liars.
You can also try to find news about development projects from major and credible publications. Because these can reflect the previous performance of the developer and whether the project has been approved. But please be careful, don't rely entirely on media reports, because this can't be used as sufficient information.
Any approval and certificate of the developer can also be verified with relevant departments, such as the Ministry of Land, Urban Planning and Construction. A legitimate company should have a company license. Regarding the project to be developed, the developer should also have the hard property right to develop the land and the license to develop the project, including the complete development plan from beginning to end.
If the developer can't display information when asked, this is a bad signal. If you can't get hard property rights or sublet property rights after the transaction, this is an obvious danger signal.
Deception 8: Exaggerate the facts
Some real estate transactions also exaggerate the facts. For example, before the transaction, the seller indicated that the real estate area was 6x 16m, but the actual area was only 4x10m. In this case, buying a house will make your future house face demolition. Sometimes buyers will be aware of this problem, but sometimes they won't know.
Solution: Check the property area with the relevant authorities to avoid this situation. LMAP-level hard property rights are clearly marked with boundaries and GPS coordinates. So this is a safe form of property rights.
Scam 9: Speculation drives up house prices
There is fraud in which two companies or two people join hands to drive up property prices. One person buys undeveloped land, and the other person announces a development project nearby. Usually, the so-called development project is just a cover, and the specific development location will not be disclosed.
People who buy undeveloped land will sell it at a higher price than before after announcing the development project. Then, they share the profits equally. Therefore, there is no intention to develop the project from beginning to end, just a means to drive up housing prices.
Solution:
So how can we avoid being routine? In fact, it is much easier to avoid this scam than other scams, because large-scale development projects need to be approved by many government departments, and the projects that can be approved are companies with fixed assets and rich successful experience. And if you are a liar, there is generally no real work place.
Don't let these scams scare you, you know …
As long as there is a good plan and a house is bought according to standard procedures, it is of great benefit to buy an industry in Cambodia. First of all, you should consult a trustworthy real estate agent, because a good agent is an excellent start. They know the trading process and market know-how. If you are still worried about being cheated, please consult a lawyer before making a deal.