New House Construction Form, To Be Notarized: Fill & Download for Free

Eligibility to avail NRI home Loan:Minimum age should be 18 years with regular sources of income (clubbing of income of co-borrowers / guarantors and expected rent accruals on proposed property is permitted subject to certain conditions).Valid PassportEmployed abroad for at least 2 years or a valid job contract for a minimum period of 2 years abroad but has completed 6 months of employment or working abroad on assignments with foreign Governments / government agencies or International / Regional Agencies like the UNO, IMF, World Bank etc. or Central Government, State Government or Public Sector Undertakings, officials deputed abroad on temporary assignments or posted to their offices (including Indian Diplomatic Missions) abroad.Existing NRE / NRO account holder with SBI.a) Home Loan Application.b) Two passport size photographsc) Power of attorney (POA), if required. It can be given to close relatives namely Spouse, Father, Mother, Brother, Sister, Children, Father-in-law and Mother-in-law.d) Applicant’s documents as per following:i. Identity and Address Proofs as per following:Please note:Non-Salaried Applicants (Businessmen / Professionals / Self Employed) also needs to submit address proof of their office / business in addition to residence address as mentioned above. Address proof of office / business has to as per above listed documents only.Identity and address proofs of resident Indian co-borrower or POA holder (if applicable) will also be required in addition to the applicant’s proofs, for the http://KYC.In case you are not visiting to our branch in India, these proof needs to attested by any of the below:· SBI Foreign Office· Notary Public· Indian Embassy / High Commissione) Property related documents, as per following:(which ever is applicable)· Property documents common to all -· Agreement for sale (duly registered for states where applicable), construction agreement· Copy of N.A. permission for the land from the collector· Copy of order under the Urban land Ceiling Act· Blueprint (Plan Copy) stamped by Municipal Authority· All Payment Receipts to builder/seller· Letter from the builder/society/Housing Board intimating their a/c number and name of their bankers, for remittance of installments· Original of land tax paid receipt and possession certificate issued by the revenue authorities· If purchased from builder/development authority (new flats) -· Registered Development Agreement between the owner of land and the builder, Power of attorney to the builder from land owner for sale of flats· Commencement certificate granted by Corporation / Nagar Palika· Letter of Allotment from Private builder/Housing Board/Society· NOC and Transfer Letter from development authority· NOC from private builder in Bank’s Standard format· Tripartite Agreement· If leased land then Registered Agreement of lease· If purchased from registered society -· Letter of allotment from Society· A Copy of approved plan by the appropriate authority· Share Certificate in Original· Permission for construction· List of members submitted by society with Registrar of Societies duly acknowledged· Copy of Bye laws of society· Certificate of I.T. clearance· Certificate of registration· NOC to mortgage from the society· NOC from land allotting authority in case of lease hold property· Undertakings by Architect, Member, Power of attorney, Accepting deposit of Original share certificate, accepting the bank as nominee; Resolution passed by the Managing Committee· If society not registered / originally allotted from development authority / resale flat -· Occupancy certificate and share certificate· Chain of Old Agreements in original with original receipt of registration (if any)· Original letter of allotment issued to the first owner by the development authority/Builder (as applicable)· Original stamped receipts of payments issued to the previous and present owners by the builder/development authority/society· Conveyance deed executed by the builder/development authority in favour of society/seller· Transfer permission from the respective authority (development authority/society)· If construction on own land -· Detailed estimate from Chartered Engineer/Architectf) Documents to be submitted at the time of documentation (Post sanction) and subsequent disbursement/part disbursements (in case of home construction), as per following:Requirement for home loan documentation· Sale Agreement and Construction Agreement (As applicable) in original· Originals of all other property documents (wherever applicable) which have been submitted along with application form· Power of Attorney (For NRI, PIO’s and defense personnel only) in original with 1 copy. (POA should be in SBI standard format)· Original Receipts for advance amount paid to the seller/builder and margin money receipt· Up to date Encumbrance Certificate (wherever required)· Equitable mortgage charges (As applicable as per state Laws) in cash (to be handed over to documentation officer only) towards stamping of recital· Indemnity Bond for deviation on Stamp paper -duly notarized. (Amount as applicable for the state)Stamp Charges:· Where franking facility is available – Applicable stamp charges (as per state law) in cash to be handed over to Documentation Officer only· Where franking is not available – Stamp papers for the applicable amount (As per state law) to be produced· Repayment arrangements:· SBI Customer: Standing Instruction letter or postdated cheques· Others: ECS Mandate signed by other bank or postdated cheques· For Interim security, all the original documents to be produced and the title deed holder/s to be present along with the borrowerRequirement for home loan disbursement· Borrower’s Consent letter (in bank’s format) quoting account no., amount to be debited, payment in favour of, and signed by all co-borrower’s· Stage wise builders demand letter/ engineer/Architects certificate confirming the stage of construction· Receipts for money disbursed earlier (in original for part disbursements)· Receipt of Advance money/Margin money paid in original· For takeover Loans from other banks, latest outstanding balance letter to be produced for disbursementTo apply online visit link https://onlineapply.sbi.co.in/personal-banking/

Rules in a paying guest in Bangalore any area this applies Golden rules to live happily with your paying guest roommate………..To stay with the person you don't know at all is of course not an easy task. But when you come in hostel, it becomes inevitable for you to stay with unknown persons. But at the same time you can also enjoy your life if you get accustomed to them. Follow the following steps and you will surely enjoy the company of your paying guest room-mates.1. Clear everything while setting up: it is but obvious that your room mate can not know about your likings and disliking until and unless you inform him/her. So when you are going to setting up everything mention all the does and don'ts so very frankly.2. Respect his/her wishes: when your room mate is willing to adjust with you, you should also respect his/her choices and you should also try to understand him/her. If you are seeking for respect, then you should also be ready to respect others. And never borrow anything.3. Clear up the issues when they are small: when ever you feel that something is going wrong, clear up the matter frankly with your room mate at that point of time only. Remember without speaking anything, no one can understand your thought. Suppose if your roommate has the habit of keeping the things on the bed, inform him or her that you are not comfortable with his/her this habit when you see it for the first time only. Otherwise she/he will also take it as granted that you are comfortable with his/her habit.4. Keep habit of locking window or door: what if your roommate's precious thing gets stolen? You might be responsible for that if you have left the door or window open.5. Don't bring your friends at your room too often: because they are your friends of course you would love to invite them at your room and have a fun together. But think about convenience of your roommate. And also ask him/her whether he/she likes it or not.6. Don't expect too much: don't expect much from your roommate. And don't consider him/her as to be best friend.7. Take initiative: if your PG roommate is reserved or shy he/she might not mix up with you, at that time you try to go closure by giving space as well as sharing the matters. Sometimes the person does not share much not because of the ego or attitude but because of the reserved nature. So try to understand it.8. Be open and accept new things: because he/she is a different person, his/her habit and way of thinking must be very different and unexpected sometimes. But now you have to be mature. Accept the differences and try to adjust changing some of your habits. Because change inevitable.9. Give space: it is necessary to understand how much your room mate likes to discuss the matters. If he/she does not want to share something with you don't force. Give him/her the space. Don't interfere too much thinking he/she is your best friend.10. The golden rule: treat him/her the way you would like to be treated. Respect him/her the way you expect respect.Apply these many of rules and see you will start enjoying company of your paying guest room mate.Make a rental agreement with paying guest owners What is a Rental Agreement?A Rental Agreement is a contract between a landlord and tenant whereby a landlord gives a tenant the right to occupy the residential premises.Can a Rent Agreement be for a fixed period of time or can it be a month to month?A Rental Agreement can be for a fixed period of time, a month to month period or a week to week period. If a landlord and tenant sign a written Rental Agreement for a fixed period of time, usually for one year, they are bound by the terms and conditions until the end of the fixed term.How many witnesses are required for the rent Agreement process?A total of 2 witnesses are required during rent Agreement process and both witnesses should have PAN number and Aadhaar card available at the time of execution of the e-registration.Is it necessary to Notarized Rent Agreements in India?In India, it is not mandatory to notarize a Rent Agreement. As long as it is printed on Stamp paper and is signed by both parties and by two witnesses, it is considered binding. However, if you wish to notarize it, you may do so.List of Documents required for Notarized Rental Agreement.We don't require any physical document but we need some Owner, Tenant & Property basic informations.What is the difference between Lease Agreement and Rent Agreement?A Lease Agreement is a contractual arrangement calling for the lessee (user) to pay the lessor (owner) for use of an asset (property, premises). Broadly put, a lease Agreement is a contract between two parties. Rent Agreement is the tenant's (lessee's) regular payment to a landlord (lessor) for the use of that property, House, Flat or Land.What is a PG or Paying Guest ?Its a place to stay - Habitat for working Professionals, Students, Job Seekeres Anyone - Even for those who are kicked out from Home.At What Budget can i get paying guest?Its Based on your pocket friendliness choose your paying guest - moreover depends on sharing &, locality. It can be anything please discuss with the concerned pg owners for yout budget. Of course after you see your Bed only.Is there any security Deposit for my stay?Generally answer should be yes ! If you are damn lucky - No ! How - Competition boss competition. Survival of fittest in business. If you can convince him with a cheque or job safety - Its purely based on your talk and Seasonal demand in the paying guestHow will they refund the deposit back?Most asked thing about paying guest is this! It is purely based on your relationship with the PG owner. Join in a big pg. Rules is rules. Better get a agreement with pg owner.Are the paying guest Luxurious enough ?Pay more to be more. Luxury comes to mind only when you pay more. Luxury paying guest addicted persons have to pay more- yeahWhay facilities will paying guest owners provide me?North and South Indian Food - 90% of PG's Do this only Multi-Cuisine Food / Kerala Style / Andhra Style - You have to check with specific paying guest owner 24 Hours Hot Water - WOW - Be sure to use when need only Drinking Mineral Water - RO -UV Treated Separate wardrobes / Cupboards / Lockers - Again its economical or luxurious LED TV in each room or common area Attached bathrooms or Common bathrooms upto 6 people 2 and 4 Wheeler Parking - Closed or open space Wi-Fi Connectivity - Hi speed or low speed Self cooking facility - check with pg owner Few PGs have Living room with Sofa Set and a Big LED TV And few High End Paying Guests (PG) in Bangalore also have GYM for fitness buddiesWhat is the advantage of a Paying Guest(PG) over a House or Room?positive and negative for each topic varies. When it comes to home. cost is more - Living Freedom is more. Whereas PG you have to follow 4 things 1. Rules 2. Rules 3. Rules 4. RulesAdvantages - Security is good as you can stay in groups - Loneliness will not come to your mind - New Friends will be around you may be of same ages - Common facilities like TV, Washing Machine, Fridge, AC GYM when used with pg mates will be much cheaper than you pay them for each and every service. - Food Cost will be much cheaper than lodging or cooking Individuals - Location of Paying guest will be in such places that - rent will never be affordable there - You may Quit this service anytime whereas House shifting is a very long process-Disadvantages- Chances of Getting to wrong pg may give you bad experiences Be carefull when you choose a paying guest - You may not throw your things as you wish. Right to Freedom is lost in paying guest - Coming on time to pg will be important - Also these pg wording depents on Individuals opinion. Think before you take my wordsSafety factors for Paying guest of Females in bangalore?The Government has ordered that all the Ladies Paying Guest (PG) in Bangalore must have a CCTV Camera and a Security guard to ensure the safety of the ladies/girls staying in the PG. 95% of pg owners are doing it. Ensure you are not part of 5% of the remainingIs the food provided in Paying Guest (PG) Healthy?Your taste buds will tell you. Home food is good. Healthy. Choose pg which has highest reviews and Positive comments for a specific PG accomodationsMost Important Things Women Should Look for While Selecting A Paying Guest AccommodationToday's women are confident and have specific career goals for themselves.One of the biggest steps on their path to turn into a strong independent self is to m ove out of their comfort zone for shifting to different states and cities having more lucrative academic and career options. Perhaps the most challenging task for them after relocating to another city is to find a suitable paying guest accommodation for themselves. It becomes really important to keep certain things in mind before finalizing a living space.Here is the list of top 5 things every woman or girl should keep in mind while choosing the right Paying Guest Accommodation Center.Safety and Security With an ever increasing rate of crimes against women,especially in the metros, the first important thing to consider is safety and security. Choose a locality which has a good record in terms of security. The Resident Welfare Associations (RWA) of good localities hire security guards who keep a check on every person entering or leaving the area or building. They keep proper records of outsiders coming into the locality and are always on guard. Never live in an area not having such tight security measures.Budget and Your Specific NeedsEvery girl should look for a PG which is affordable yet comfortable. Make a record of your earnings, expenses, savings and allowances, if you have any, and then see how much amount you can spend on accommodation. Make a list of your specific needs like eating only vegetarian food or requirement of two rooms instead of one and other important aspects of living in a PG.Start Searching Online FirstYou will get a better idea about the features and price range by looking at your options online. Read the reviews of various paying guest accommodation centers over some real estate websites as it will help in making your final decision. Moreover, you will come to know about all the PGs available in your desired location.Proximity to Your Work-Place or CollegeMostly women step out of the comfort zones of their homes in order to study in colleges or go to work elsewhere. Whatever you need on a regular basis, just make sure that it is not far away from the PG.You will have to ensure that different modes of transport like buses, metro, local trains, auto rickshaws are easily available from the area that you are residing in.Check for things that cause inconvenience, like not getting a conveyance on time when you need to reach someplace urgently.Staff MattersFor women, it becomes really important that the staff members should include only females or at least one female. In the absence of the owner, one or two female staff members should be present 24/7 for the security of the tenants. Never start living in a PG which does not have female staff members. Make sure that the female staff is hired only after a thorough background check. Your security is in your hands, you should be confident that the house-owner and the staff members have a clean-chit. Properly look into their credentials before you decide whether that particular PG is the perfect choice for you or not helps.Quick Tips to Find Right Paying Guest Accommodation CenterMost of the people, especially youngsters, are stepping out of their homes to explore better career opportunities in today's fast paced world. Getting out of your comfort zone, interacting with unknown people and exploring the necessities on your own can give a headache to anyone. But, the thought of finding a suitable Paying Guest Accommodation Center in an unknown city or state might seem as an absolute nightmare.Here is a quick guide to help you find the most suited paying guest accommodation center in no time:Budget and Needs The first and foremost step before starting your desirable PG search is to note down your exact needs like location, features to help you make the budget. Take a pen-notepad and write down all the things you want in your PG. Go through your earnings, expenses and savings and fix a particular amount of money that you can afford to pay every month.Online PG : - Search Make good use of technology to start your PG accommodation search online. There are a number of real estate websites to help you find the best PG nearby your college or office. Some sites even allow you to post your requirements and interact with agents or owners.An Agent with Multiple Options : - It is a good idea to find an active agent in the area of your choice. Do not engage with more than two agents, but make sure to go through multiple options shown by the agent. Usually, the fee charged by agents is less than or equal to a month's rent.Location and Transport: - Do you really want to spend hours driving to reach your office/college every day? If the PG best fitting your needs and budget is located far away from your office, try finding another one because it is best to live in the same or adjoining area as that of your office. You will be able to cut down on the fuel expenses, if it is at walking distance. However, if you don't own a vehicle; make sure to check if the transport facility is available nearby your PG.Security and Surroundings : - Do not trust every word coming out of the mouth of owner blindly. Do your own background check before finalizing the place. Hospitals, general stores, restaurants, petrol pumps and other basic necessities should be near your PG. It is best if the PG is surrounded by residential houses.Room : - Check for the windows, bathrooms, leaks or construction faults in the room. Make sure to ask questions about the water and electricity supply. Clarify beforehand if the usage of electricity appliances is allowed or not. Some PG accommodation centers promise internet connectivity. Check the connection and ask for hidden additional costs too.Food: - Make sure to ask the owner about the food serving, time and quality. If you take meals at a specific time, mention that to the owner. Do they offer only vegetarian dishes or non-vegetarian too? Ask all the questions that matter before hand. Make sure the food served is hygienic.Restrictions : - The last and most important step before finalizing a PG accommodation is to check the restrictions. Are you allowed to bring your friends or family to your rooms? In case you work at night shifts, make sure to mention this in case the PG owner doesn't allow entry after specific hoursTips for Owners to Run Successful Paying Guest Accommodation CentersEducation and professional sectors are booming in India at a lightning speed due to advancements in technology. This trend of moving to big cities to get better opportunities have given people a new idea to earn extra cash, by opening a PG accommodation center. Opening a PG accommodation center might look like the fastest way to earn cash, but maintaining a PG is not everyone's cup of tea.Here are some tips for owners to run successful paying guest accommodation center business.Proper Space and Facilities - Before starting a PG, it is best to check if you have the right space and basic facilities nearby. Is there any point in opening a PG accommodation center totally out of the city? Find a location, prefer the residential surroundings, where all the basic facilities like hospitals, schools, colleges are at a walking distance. Moreover, the facilities might differ as per the nature of tenants. Understand the group that you want to accommodate - college students, bachelor office going boys or families. Make up your mind about the tenants and then think about the facilities.Legal FormalitiesSelecting and setting up the building was the first step. Now, for running a paying guest accommodation center the owners need an attractive name (for marketing purposes) and health tradelicense. The licenses and legal formalities differ as per the state and locality. Sometimes, all you need is a written permission of the society to start a PG. Set out some rules beforehand. Keep a proper record with the identity proofs of every current or previous tenant.Arrange StaffYou will need proper staff for cleaning rooms and bathrooms, cooking food, a watchman for locking the main door after specific time at night and a care taker for managing discipline. If you have young girls as tenants, you will need to take all the security measures. A marketing manger will also be required to advertise about your PG both online and offline to attract new tenants. A staff member to answer the queries of people looking for accommodation over phone should also be appointed. Keep contact with nearby institutes to get new students as tenants.Best FacilitiesA paying guest accommodation should be started with an aim of providing a home away from home. Make sure to behave politely with the tenants and advise your staff to do the same. Alwaysprovide good-quality food and clean-hygienic rooms. Maintain a good relationship with the tenants and solve their problems or complaints right away. Provide exclusive facilities like internet connection, washing machines and TV etc. to attract more tenants.Rules and RestrictionsKeep the rules and restrictions in written form and paste it on the notice board near the front desk. Keep the prices genuine and discuss each rule out of the list with every new tenant to avoid any type of confusion. Make sure to expel the paying guest if he or she is creating a nuisance and disturbing the peaceful environment of your Paying Guest accommodation center. full Information on paying guest in Bangalore

SUNDOWN, Texas (Reuters) - Brett Fryar is a middle-class Republican. A 50-year-old chiropractor in this west Texas town, he owns a small business. He has two undergraduate degrees and a master’s degree, in organic chemistry. He attends Southcrest Baptist Church in nearby Lubbock.Fryar didn’t much like Donald Trump at first, during the U.S. president’s 2016 campaign. He voted for Texas Senator Ted Cruz in the Republican primaries.Now, Fryar says he would go to war for Trump. He has joined the newly formed South Plains Patriots, a group of a few hundred members that includes a “reactionary” force of about three dozen - including Fryar and his son, Caleb - who conduct firearms training.ADVERTISEMENTNothing will convince Fryar and many others here in Sundown - including the town’s mayor, another Patriots member - that Democrat Joe Biden won the Nov. 3 presidential election fairly. They believe Trump’s stream of election-fraud allegations and say they’re preparing for the possibility of a “civil war” with the American political left."If President Trump comes out and says: 'Guys, I have irrefutable proof of fraud, the courts won't listen, and I'm now calling on Americans to take up arms,' we would go," said Fryar, wearing a button-down shirt, pressed slacks and a paisley tie during a recent interview at his office.The unshakable trust in Trump in this town of about 1,400 residents reflects a national phenomenon among many Republicans, despite the absence of evidence in a barrage of post-election lawsuits by the president and his allies. About half of Republicans polled by Reuters/Ipsos said Trump “rightfully won” the election but had it stolen from him in systemic fraud favoring Biden, according to a survey conducted between Nov. 13 and 17. Just 29% of Republicans said Biden rightfully won. Other polls since the election have reported that an even higher proportion - up to 80% - of Republicans trust Trump’s baseless fraud narrative.Trump’s legal onslaught has so far flopped, with judges quickly dismissing many cases and his lawyers dropping or withdrawing from others. None of the cases contain allegations - much less evidence - that are likely to invalidate enough votes to overturn the election, election experts say.And yet the election-theft claims are proving politically potent. All but a handful of Republican lawmakers have backed Trump’s fraud claims or stayed silent, effectively freezing the transition of power as the president refuses to concede. Trump has succeeded in sowing further public distrust in the media, which typically calls elections, and undermined citizens’ faith in the state and local election officials who underpin American http://democracy.In Reuters interviews with 50 Trump voters, all said they believed the election was rigged or in some way illegitimate. Of those, 20 said they would consider accepting Biden as their president, but only in light of proof that the election was conducted fairly. Most repeated debunked conspiracy theories espoused by Trump, Republican officials and conservative media claiming that millions of votes were dishonestly switched to Biden in key states by biased poll workers and hacked voting machines.ADVERTISEMENTMany voters interviewed by Reuters said they formed their opinions by watching emergent right-wing media outlets such as Newsmax and One American News Network that have amplified Trump’s fraud claims. Some have boycotted Fox News out of anger that the network called Biden the election winner and that some of its news anchors - in contrast to its opinion show stars - have been skeptical of Trump’s fraud allegations.“I just sent Fox News an email,” Fryar said, telling the network: “You’re the only news I’ve watched for the last six years, but I will not watch you anymore.”The widespread rejection of the election result among Republicans reflects a new and dangerous dynamic in American politics: the normalization of false and increasingly extreme conspiracy theories among tens of millions of mainstream voters, according to government scholars, analysts and some lawmakers on both sides of the political divide. The trend has deeply troubling long-term implications for American political and civic institutions, said Paul Light, a veteran political scientist at New York University (NYU)."This is dystopian," Light said. "America could fracture.”Adam Kinzinger, a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives, is among the few party members to publicly recognize Biden’s victory. He called his Republican colleagues’ reluctance to reject Trump’s conspiracies a failure of political courage that threatens to undermine American democracy for years. If citizens lose faith in election integrity, that could lead to “really bad things,” including violence and social unrest, he said in an interview.David Gergen - an adviser to four previous U.S. presidents, two Democrats and two Republicans - said Trump is trying to “kneecap” the Biden administration before it takes power, noting this is the first time a sitting American president has tried to overthrow an election result.ADVERTISEMENTIt may not be the last time. Many Republicans see attacks on election integrity as a winning issue for future campaigns - including the next presidential race, according to one Republican operative close to the Trump campaign. The party, the person said, is setting up a push for “far more stringent oversight on voting procedures in 2024,” when the party’s nominee will likely be Trump or his anointed successor.Other Republicans urged patience and faith in the government. Charlie Black, a veteran Republican strategist, does not believe Republican lawmakers will continue backing Trump’s fraud claims after Biden is inaugurated. They will need White House cooperation on basic government functions, such as appropriations and defense bills, he said."People will come to see we still have a functioning government,” Black said, and Republicans will become “resigned to Biden, and see it’s not the end of the world.”The Biden campaign declined to comment for this story. Boris Epshteyn, a strategic advisor to the Trump campaign, said: “The President and his campaign are confident that when every legal vote is counted, and every illegal vote is not, it will be determined that President Trump has won re-election to a second term.”‘THERE’S JUST NO WAY’Media outlets declared Biden the election winner on Nov. 7. As calls were finalized in battleground states, Biden’s lead in the Electoral College that decides the presidency widened to 306 to 232. (For a graphic explaining the electoral college, see: tmsnrt.rs/38VTUvK )ADVERTISEMENTMany Republican voters scoff at those results, convinced Trump was cheated. Raymond Fontaine, a hardware store owner in Oakville, Connecticut, said Biden’s vote total - the highest of any presidential candidate in history - makes no sense because the 78-year-old Democrat made relatively few campaign appearances and seemed to be in mental decline."You are going to tell me 77 million Americans voted for him? There is just no way," said Fontaine, 50.The latest popular vote total for Biden has grown to about 79 million, compared to some 73 million for Trump.Like many Trump supporters interviewed by Reuters, Fontaine was deeply suspicious of computerized voting machines. Trump and his allies have alleged, without producing evidence, a grand conspiracy to manipulate votes through the software used in many battleground states.In Grant County, West Virginia - a mountainous region where more than 88% of voters backed the president - trust in Trump runs deep. Janet Hedrick, co-owner of the Smoke Hole Caverns log cabin resort in the small town of Cabins, said she would never accept Biden as a legitimate president."There's millions and millions of Trump votes that were just thrown out,” said Hedrick, 70, a retired teacher and librarian. “That computer was throwing them out.”ADVERTISEMENTAt the Sunset Restaurant in Moorefield, West Virginia - a diner featuring omelettes, hotcakes and waitresses who remember your order - a mention of the election sparked a spirited discussion at one table. Gene See, a retired highway construction inspector, and Bob Hyson, a semi-retired insurance sales manager, said Trump had been cheated, that Biden had dementia and that Democrats planned all along to quickly replace Biden with his more liberal running mate for vice president, Kamala Harris."I think if they ever get to the bottom of it, they will find massive fraud," said another of the diners, Larry Kessel, a 67-year-old farmer.Kessel’s wife, Jane, patted him on the arm, trying to calm him, as he grew agitated while railing against anti-Trump media bias.Trump’s rage against the media has lately included rants against Fox News. He has pushed his supporters towards more right-wing outlets such as Newsmax and One America News Network, which have championed the president’s fraud claims.Rory Wells, 51, a New Jersey lawyer who attended a pro-Trump “stop the steal” election protest in Trenton last week, said he now watches Newsmax because Fox isn’t sufficiently conservative.“I like that I get to hear from Rudy Giuliani and others who are not immediately discounted as being crazy,” he said of Trump’s lead election lawyer.ADVERTISEMENTNewsmax CEO Chris Ruddy said the network’s viewership has exploded since the election, with nearly 3 million viewers nightly via cable television and streaming video devices.Ruddy said Newsmax isn’t saying that Biden stole the election - but they’re also not calling him the winner given that Trump has valid legal claims. “The same media who said Biden would win in a landslide now want to not have recounts,” he said in a phone interview.Charles Herring, president of One America News Network, said in a statement that his network has seen three weeks of record ratings, as “frustrated Fox News viewers” have tuned in.‘NO WAY IN HELL’Some Trump supporters said they would accept Biden as the winner if that is the final, official result. Janel Henritz, 36, echoed some others in saying that she believed the election included fraud, but perhaps not enough to change the outcome. Henritz, who works alongside her mother Janet Hedrick at their log cabin resort in West Virginia, said she would accept the outcome if Biden remains the winner after recounts and court challenges."Then he won fair and square," she said.ADVERTISEMENTIn Sundown, Texas, Mayor Jonathan Strickland said there’s "no way in hell" Biden won fairly. The only way he’ll believe it, he said, is if Trump himself says so.“Trump is the only one we’ve been able to trust for the last four years,” said Strickland, an oilfield production engineer. “As far as the civil war goes, I don’t think it’s off the table.”If it comes to a fight, Caleb Fryar is ready. But the 26-year-old son of Brett Fryar, the chiropractor, said he hoped Trump’s fraud allegations would instead spark a massive mobilization of Republican voters in future elections.Asked whether Trump might be duping his followers, he said it’s hard to fathom.“If I’m being manipulated by Trump ... then he is the greatest con man that ever lived in America,” Caleb Fryar said. “I think he’s the greatest patriot that ever lived.”(This story corrects to delete reference in first paragraph to Brett Fryar teaching Sunday school and bible studies at Southcrest Baptist Church. He taught those classes at another church.)ADVERTISEMENT(Reporting by Brad Brooks in Texas, Nathan Layne in West Virginia and Tim Reid in California; editing by Brian Thevenot)Incoming GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and other supporters of President Trump protest the election results outside the Georgia Capitol in Atlanta on Nov. 7. (Kevin D. Liles/for The Washington Post)Elena Parent, a Democratic state lawmaker from the Atlanta area, listened incredulously in a small hearing room in early December as a stream of witnesses spun fantastical tales of alleged election fraud before the Georgia Senate’s Judiciary Committee.A retired Army colonel claimed the state’s voting machines were controlled by Communists from Venezuela. A volunteer lawyer with President Trump’s campaign shared surveillance video that she said showed election workers in Atlanta counting “suitcases” of phony ballots that swung Georgia’s election to former vice president Joe Biden. The president’s personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, told the panel: “Every single vote should be taken away from Biden.”“Since this has been debunked repeatedly, what evidence can you give to us that counters what our elections officials presented us with only an hour ago?” Parent asked one of the witnesses, her voice rising in exasperation. When she tried to ask a follow-up question, the Republican committee chairman cut her off.AdHer questions — and the fact that the claims were misleading, unsubstantiated or just plain false — did little to keep the rumors in check. It didn’t matter that state and local election officials had explained what was in the video and conducted a hand recount to show that the machines were not rigged. It didn’t matter that multiple news outlets detailed, over and over, that there was no evidence of widespread fraud. It didn’t matter that, amid a global pandemic and massive demand for mail ballots, a system under historic strain in fact held up decisively.To preserve his hold on power, Trump has spent the weeks since Election Day promoting falsehoodsabout voting problems in Georgia and five other states, successfully persuading tens of millions of his supporters to believe a lie — that the election was stolen from him, and from them.He has done so by harnessing the power of his position, using his pulpit at the White House and his Twitter feed to let loose a fusillade of conspiracy theories. His assault on the integrity of the election has gotten a hefty assist from pro-Trump media outfits and an assortment of state lawmakers and lawyers who gave oxygen to the debunked allegations — and a majority of congressional Republicans, who called on the Supreme Court to overturn the results in four states.Control of the Senate rests in the hands of Georgia voters in the Jan. 5 runoff election that will determine two seats. (The Washington Post)Trump is continuing to press his case, even now that the electoral college has formally elected Biden. In a meeting with allies on Friday, the president discussed deploying the military to rerun the election and appointing attorney Sidney Powell, whose conspiracy theories about election fraud have been widely discredited, as a special counsel to investigate the outcome.Along the way, Trump has willfully damaged two bedrocks of American democracy that he has been going after for years: confidence in the media as a source of trusted information and faith in systems of government. It might be one of his lasting legacies.A Fox News poll released on Dec. 11shows that more than a third of registered voters believe the election was stolen from Trump — a number that rises to 77 percent among those who voted for Trump. Conversely, 56 percent of voters believe Trump weakened American democracy by contesting election results in various states, with the number rising to 85 percent among those who voted for Biden, according to the poll.Trump’s campaign spokesman, Tim Murtaugh, declined to answer specific questions about the damage the president has done or the untruths he embraced.“President Trump owes it to the 75 million Americans who voted for him — and to those who voted for Joe Biden — to ensure that the election was free, fair and secure,” he said.Even now that the electoral college has voted, and the GOP’s top leaders have publicly accepted Biden’s victory, both parties and the country overall must reckon with the mark Trump has left on American democracy. Biden will start his presidency with nearly half the country believing he is not the legitimate occupant of the White House. Many Americans who voted against Trump and have watched with horror as he has tried to subvert the results are equally disillusioned about the strength of the system, which they fear could have toppled but for the courage of a cadre of election officials, state Republicansand judges who held the line.Few anticipate that the mistrust and divisions will fade with the 45th president’s departure from the White House. One reason: The most ardent purveyors of unfounded accusations say they have no plans to back down.“The fact is that President Trump was reelected by what will be known soon to be a landslide victory unparalleled in this country,” said L. Lin Wood, a Georgia lawyer and Trump ally who has filed unsuccessful lawsuits on the president’s behalf.Wood said he spoke to the president in a phone call earlier this month, encouraging him not to concede in what he described as “a battle between good and evil.”Nathaniel Persily, a professor at Stanford Law School and co-director of the Stanford-MIT Healthy Elections Project, said that kind of rhetoric has emboldened some in the country to doubt the results merely because their preferred candidate lost.“We’re entering a very dangerous phase where a sizable share of the population has no faith in the basic mechanics of the democracy,” Persily said. Millions of voters, he added, now see the fight over who should lead the country as a function of “the willingness to exert power as opposed to playing by fair rules of the game.”A base willing to believeTrump has demonstrated a unique capacity to rally supporters to his war cries, even when they are false or unproven. He gained notoriety nearly a decade ago as the leader of the so-called birther movement, asserting falsely that then-President Barack Obama was not born in the United States.This year, Trump’s obsession with election fraud has tested his followers anew, and their willingness to go along with him has shown how powerful his hold is on the GOP.Thousands of President Trump’s supporters converged on Washington, D.C., on Nov. 14 to falsely claim he won the election. (The Washington Post)The president’s false claims about voting ramped up in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, when election officials were gearing up for a historic surge in mail balloting. He got help from a chorus of Republican allies, who echoed and amplified his untruths on the campaign trail, on conservative television and in state capitols in key battlegrounds.In the days following the election, his rhetoric defied logic as he cited more and more outlandish accusations and echoed unverified Twitter accounts. “They are finding Biden votes all over the place — in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan,” Trump tweeted on Nov. 4, suggesting falsely that ballots still being counted a day after the election were fraudulent. “So bad for our Country!”On Nov. 30, the president retweeted an account named @Catturd2 that claimed in Arizona, “Truck Loads of Ballots Kept Coming in For 10 Days After Elections Officials Thought They Were Done Counting.”Many of his increasingly outrageous accusations — blasted out to his 89 million followers on Twitter — came straight from one of his new favorite news sources, One America News.“Pennsylvania Poll Watcher: USB Drives uploaded to machines, gave Biden thousands of votes,” the president tweeted on Nov. 27.Dec. 16: “Study: Dominion Machines shifted 2-3% of Trump Votes to Biden. Far more votes than needed to sway election.”Cobb County election workers recount votes by hand in Marietta, Ga. (Kevin D. Liles/for The Washington Post)Trump and his allies also claimed to have scores of “affidavits” alleging fraud on a massive scale. But the sworn statements his campaign and his allies submitted in lawsuits contained meaningless observations, such as one complaint in Michigan that a “man of intimidating size” had followed a poll watcher too closely, and another who said that a public address system was too loud and therefore “distracting to those of us trying to concentrate.”Trump and his allies have lost overwhelmingly when they tried to overturn Biden’s victory through the courts, with at least 88 judges across the country ruling against them either on procedural grounds or on the merits in more than 50 cases. The president’s campaign on Sunday said it was filing a new petition with the Supreme Court seeking to overturn the result in Pennsylvania, challenging state voting procedures similar to those that the court has so far declined to act on.Even as his accusations havecollapsed under scrutiny, they have gained traction among his most ardent supporters.They have been spurred on by Trump-supporting cable and online news outlets such as OAN and Newsmax, which touted unfounded theories about the Dominion machines, dead people voting and poll workers in Michigan allegedly covering up windows with cardboard to prevent observers from watching the process.At a rally in Valdosta, Ga., earlier this month for two Republican senators facing a runoff election on Jan. 5, Trump paused his speech and turned to giant screens that played misleading news reports on fraud. Thousands in the crowd watched the videos, rapt.Trump supporters chant at a rally in Valdosta, Ga. in early December. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)Trump’s arguments made sense, his supporters said. They couldn’t believe that Biden fared better than Obama had in his races, and they were suspicious that Trump was ahead in some states on Election Day but fell behind as mail ballots were counted — either unaware or untrusting of news reports explaining why that was expected.“Do you truly believe that Joe Biden got more votes than Barack Obama?” asked Wendy Mick, 53, who traveled from New Jersey to a “Stop the Steal” rally in the District on Dec. 12, and said that Newsmax and OAN are her new preferred sources for political news. “He never campaigned. There’s no way that Biden got so many votes.”How the lie took holdThe relative silence of Republicans lawmakers in the initial days after the election, both in states and on Capitol Hill, quickly gave way to a flood of support for Trump’s posture.A stock line emerged among Republican leaders who refused to acknowledge Biden’s win: The president has the right to pursue all legal avenues available to him.But Trump has done more than pursue all legal avenues. He has openly cajoled his supporters to join the fight. And they did.In Maricopa County, Ariz., home of Phoenix, his supporters lashed out at local election officials, accusing them without evidence of improperly verifying signatures, switching Trump votes to Biden votes on duplicate ballots and keeping observers too far away from ballot-counting to see anything.In Wisconsin, they claimed the use of drop boxes for mail ballots was illegal. With most municipal offices closed to the public because of the pandemic, many city clerks set up secure drop boxes not just for ballots, but for other city business such as utility bills.“I had customers dropping off absentee ballots and saying, ‘How are you going to differentiate my ballot from a utility bill?’ and I thought, ‘Wow, you must really think I’m dumb that I can’t differentiate a ballot envelope from a utility bill,’ ” said Lori Stottler, the city clerk in Beloit, Wis., on the Illinois border. “But then I thought, ‘Well, they don’t know what I do.’ And I took a step back and I tried to explain.”GOP Pennsylvania House Speaker Bryan Cutler’s Facebook page was inundated with demands from constituents that he reverse Biden’s win in the state. Protesters also gathered outside his rural home in Lancaster County on Dec. 5 with bullhorns and signs.“Petition your governor for a special session!” an organizer shouted. “Why haven’t you petitioned him?”“Do your job!” the crowd chanted back. “Do your job! Do your job!”Trump supporters pray and sing outside the Capitol in Harrisburg, Pa., on Dec. 14, as the state’s electors cast their ballots for Biden. (Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post)At one point, Rep. Seth Grove, a Republican lawmaker from York County, Pa., said a conservative activist confronted him at the Capitol in Harrisburg, demanding that the legislature take action to seat Trump’s electors — even though state law does not allow such a move.Grove said he was stunned when the longtime tea party organizer proclaimed, “You know, the Constitution doesn’t limit government!”It was a reminder, Grove said, of just how much power Trump has amassed over the Republican electorate, to the point that some of his supporters are no longer guided by political principles they have claimed adherence to in the past.“I looked at him. I’m like, ‘What?’ ” Grove recalled. “It shocked me. Shocked me.”Lawmakers in Arizona and Pennsylvania rebuffed the president’s efforts to stage official hearings to examine potential fraud. But back benchers in both states assembled media spectacles in hotel ballrooms, labeling them hearings but presenting “witnesses” that were not under oath and offering no evidence for their claims.Republican lawmakers in Michigan and Georgia did hold official hearings, giving Giuliani an additional platform to unspool a series of false claims.“I know they are under a lot of pressure from their base, from the lies being spun by Trump and his enablers, right-wing media, etc., but it was really disappointing,” said Parent, the Georgia senator. “The hearing was obviously a sham that wasn’t designed to answer any questions about the election.”Republicans on the committee did not respond to requests for comment.One witness at the Michigan hearing, Mellissa Carone, gained notoriety for a stream of unfounded accusations, including one claim that she’d seen a van pull up to a Detroit vote-counting center that was meant to bring in meals for election workers but was actually filled with phony ballots. Carone had previously been deemed “simply not credible” by a state judge.Trump lashed out at those who refused to bend to his will. He called Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, an “enemy of the people” for failing to embrace the president’s accusations of fraud. He accused the Michigan secretary of state, Democrat Jocelyn Benson, of “breaking the law” by rigging voting machines.Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger speaks at a news conference in Atlanta. (Kevin D. Liles/for The Washington Post)And he threatened Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, also a Republican, with a primary challenge in 2022 for not helping him reverse the outcome — even though Kemp had explained in a contentious phone call that he did not have the power to do so.Trump’s rhetoric has spurred some of his supporters to do more than merely protest.Raffensperger and his wife began receiving death threats and accepted a state security detail at their home in suburban Atlanta. Protesters trespassed at Benson’s home in Detroit, some armed with bullhorns and some with guns, ignoring neighbors’ pleas to go home because they were scaring children, including Benson’s 4-year-old son.In Houston, a former police captain was arrested Tuesday after allegedly slamming into an air-conditioning repairman’s truck to thwart what he said was a vast election-fraud scheme. The man, Mark Anthony Aguirre, was paid $250,000 by a right-wing organization to pursue fraud conspiracy theories and believed that the truck contained 750,000 fake ballots, police said.The truck, it turned out, was full of nothing but air conditioning parts.'The fraud happened'Vanishingly few national Republicans have been willing to stand up to the false statements, despite privately acknowledging that the election is over. “The future will take care of itself,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told reporters in early December, refusing to acknowledge that Biden had won.In Pennsylvania, Republican lawmakers who had initially resisted the president’s entreaties wound up signing onto an emergency petition to the Supreme Court that sought to overturn Biden’s win in the state, though they never cited fraud in their filing. They also sent a letter to Congress urging federal lawmakers to reject Pennsylvania’s electoral votes when they convene on Jan. 6.Grove, the GOP lawmaker from Pennsylvania, said he and other Republicans had assumed the letter would go nowhere. A challenge requires support from a member of both the House and Senate, but Grove and others incorrectly thought they had to be from the state in question, and they knew that Pennsylvania’s two senators, Republican Patrick J. Toomey and Democrat Robert P. Casey Jr., would not support it.“We didn’t know that anyone can do it from any state,” Grove said. “That was a surprise.”Congressional Republicans also began echoing Trump’s claims; 126 of them ultimately signed onto an emergency petition to the Supreme Court seeking to overturn results in four states Biden had won.“The fraud happened,” said Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) at a hearing last week in Washington to examine election irregularities.Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who called the hearing despite acknowledgingthat Biden had won a legitimate election following the electoral college vote, declared at the start of the proceeding: “There was fraud in this election. I don’t have any doubt about that.”That idea that something went wrong with the vote this year has now taken hold among many Americans.Anna Van Winkle, a retired aesthetician in Savannah, Ga., who voted for Trump, has accepted her candidate’s defeat, but believes lawmakers must fix the election process to make sure such broad doubt in the outcome can’t happen again.“My concern is that we don’t go down this road again,” she said. “We had a problem. We had a big problem. And now, going forward, the best way to deal with this is to fix this where somebody like me is not going to wonder, ‘Okay, was there fraud here?’”Van Winkle was perplexed when she received multiple absentee ballot request forms at her address, and worries that others willing to commit ballot fraud would have been able to do so by requesting more than one ballot. Although Georgia requires identification to request a ballot online — and signature matching on ballots themselves — Van Winkle doesn’t understand why states don’t require mail voters to get their ballots notarized.Clayton County election workers recount votes in Jonesboro, Ga. (Kevin D. Liles/for The Washington Post)Voting-right activists, meanwhile, are concerned that such sentiments will now be cited as an excuse to try to erect new barriers to casting ballots.Indeed, GOP lawmakers in Georgia have already floated a proposal to eliminate no-excuses absentee balloting, meaning only those with a qualifying reason such as illness or an overseas assignment could vote by mail. In Texas, lawmakers have filed bills to limit distribution of absentee ballot applications and make it a felony to help voters fill out ballots. Pennsylvania Republicans have discussed tighter identification requirements for mail ballots and signature matches.Defenders of this year’s elections also recognize the need to shore up public confidence. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), who advocated unsuccessfully for billions in election aid for states this year, believes Congress must act to curtail misinformation on social media companies, which she said fell short in their civic obligation to restrict false claims on their platforms.Klobuchar said she was heartened by the Republicans who immediately acknowledged Biden’s win, by those who did so after the electoral college vote and by the dozens of judges across the country, many of them Republican appointees, who roundly rejected the fraud claims of Trump and his allies.“All of those things mean our democracy is working during a really hard time,” she said.But there remains the reality that Trump and millions of his supporters still refuse to accept Biden’s win, creating a disturbing precedent, Klobuchar said, in a political system that has prided itself on the peaceful transfer of power and acknowledgment of election results.“I’m concerned about our democracy in the long run if these civil mores change,” she said, “so people don’t even have to tell the truth about who won.”Emma Brown, Robert Barnes, Emily Guskin, Rosalind S. Helderman, Elise Viebeck and Rachel Weiner contributed to this report.