Risk in real estate: Capital Mind CEO shares mother's ordeal in evicting defaulting tenant

In India, the age-old advice for wealth creation is to buy a property. However, according to Capital Mind CEO Deepak Shenoy, more money can be made in markets with far less hassle than in real estate.

The founder and CEO of Bengaluru-based Capital Mind, revealed how his own mother had to struggle for two years to evict a defaulting tenant who refused to pay after the very first month.

"Personally went through this...Mom went to the court house for two years once every two months to evict a tenant who refused to pay rent after the first month. He also filed a case saying henchmen used just like that. Had done this with other people too," Shenoy tweeted.


"It took two years to get a court order, after which it took another three months to actually evict...the fraud renter left on the last day before the cops were brought in," he added.

After that harrowing experience, Shenoy's mother sold all real estate. "After that mom sold all real estate and now lives in the only house she owns. We've even had a piece of land taken over by goondas and then settled," he said.

"Real estate is not something that works for us. More money has been made in markets with far lesser hassle, by us," the Capital Mind CEO added.

Shenoy was reacting to a Times of India report on how a 60-year-old retired bank employee in Bengaluru managed to evict a defaulting tenant after four years of a painstaking court battle.



As per the report, Venugopal Mottur Padmanabha gave his three bedroom flat on rent to a couple in June 2019. The couple paid three months of rent and offered to vacate the flat in March 2020, after their children’s school closes for vacation. However, they remained in the flat free of cost during the Covid pandemic and later refused to vacate alleging that the owner and his wife had threatened them using their henchmen.

Padmanabhan filed a case in 2021, and on January 13, 2023, the court passed the verdict asking the couple to vacate the flat and pay the remaining dues, apart from Rs 16,000 towards the complainant's litigation expenses.

However, despite the court order, the defaulting tenants refused to move out, forcing the elderly man to procure a delivery warrant from court to evict them with police help.

"Finally, on Monday, with assistance from Hulimavu police, Padmanabhan reclaimed his flat four years after the couple had moved in and remained there illegally without paying flat maintenance charges, electricity bills and rent for months," reported the Times of India.