Property litigation is the law that deals with disputes relating to property. It involves settlement of a wide range of matters like property ownership or disputes between property owners and their tenants among other issues.

A Bengaluru based NGO named Daksh in a research report, stated that among all disputes in the judiciary, around 66% of all cases are property-related litigations, the second being family matters (10%). The other issues leading to litigation include recovery of money (8%) and permanent injunction (3.4%).

When something that big is in the picture, it becomes necessary for us to analyse what property litigations are and how one can avoid them. Disputes and litigations arise due to ambiguity or malicious intention of one or both parties. Often in a property litigation, the parties involved include owner, tenant, buyers, developers, civic authorities and banks.

Some general areas in which property solicitors and litigators work include regulatory compliance, finance, and leasehold matters handling disputes ranging from simple residential issues between landlords and tenants, to advising commercial property developers and investors.

There are various reasons why a property owner or tenant may move to a court for settling property related disputes. Some of them are,

• Getting vacant possession of rented property
• Court order for stalling or proceeding with property development
• Recovering rent arrears
• Non-compliance of contractual requirements
• Removal of unlawful tenants from a property
• A dispute between a landlord and tenant over the payment of property repairs
• Matters relating to title issues

And then there are laws in India that are useful to be referred for property disputes that include, Transfer of Property Act 1882, Indian Contract Act 1872, Indian Succession Act 1925, Specific Relief Act, 1963, Consumer Protection Act, 1986, Cooperatives Society Act of respective states and Rent Control Laws.

Alternatives to Litigation:

It is always prudent to pursue alternative methods of settling property disputes, rather than seeking an outcome through the court system. The most common reason is typically that litigation is a more expensive process, time-consuming, contentious, and stressful, than alternative methods. For businesses and investors, another reason is that settling disputes via alternative methods avoids the possibility of publicity that may harm business reputations and relationships.

• Arbitration: In this method, a professional arbitrator is assigned to the case. The arbitrator has the power to impose a binding decision, by which both parties must abide. The method closely resembles court proceedings. The advantage of this procedure is that the details of the dispute remain private.
• Mediation: In this method, a mediator facilitates negotiation between the parties involved in the dispute. In contrast to arbitration, the mediator does not make binding decisions; rather, they help the parties involved come to an agreement.
• Negotiation: This method is less formal than either arbitration or mediation, as it simply involves parties negotiating before they start any legal processes. Negotiation might take place between the two parties directly, or between solicitors engaged by the parties involved.

Only when any of these options don't work out, do the parties resort to litigation.