Last year, home finance firms had been saddled with bad loans in Kolkata what with small-time builders resorting to unscrupulous deals. Kolkata was the only city where loans were disbursed on the basis

of a sale agreement and not registration of property. This left banks saddled with non-secure mortgage, while customers were left at the mercy of unscrupulous builders, experts in the home finance industry pointed out.
   Home finance giants like HDFC and ICICI -- the two largest players in the industry - had come across several cases in which the properties had been sold to multiple customers and loans siphoned off from different funding agencies.

   With fraud cases blowing out of proportion, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) hit the alarm. Around last year end, a diktat followed from the central bank - no loans till mortgage is secure. "Till now, funding in Kolkata was done on the basis of sale agreements on Rs 50 stamp papers. Since the property continued to belong to the builder till it was registered, banks were exposing themselves to unsecured collaterals," an RBI official pointed out.

   Some properties though, continue to remain outside the regulation's ambit.