India: Legal Documents Required For Purchase Of Property

The title of a property should be checked by the purchaser’s lawyer for the past 30 years. In recent times, some persons have developed property even on lands on dried out tank beds in Bangalore. Lay outs made on revenue land are also common. Encroachments into neighbouring lands and government lands are nothing short of land grabbing. To prevent all this, and to ensure that there are no claims by minors and by persons claiming adverse possession, the chain of title has to be well established. These documents are relevant for Karnataka and should be relevant for the entire country with slight changes.

SITES/HOUSES/AGRICULTURAL LAND:
Original parent documents of title like sale deed, gift deed, partition deed, will, etc.

1. Notification by B.D.A. or KIADB for acquisition
2. Land use as per the Comprehensive Development Plan
3. Family tree of the seller
4. Katha
5. Encumbrance certificates
6. Tax paid receipt
7. Pahani and Mutation certificate for agricultural lands
8. Surveyor’s sketch
9. Sanctioned plan
10. Income tax clearance if the value shown in the agreement of sale exceeds Rs. 25 lakhs

Great care should be taken to ensure that there are no prior agreement holders or pending litigation on the property. This is done by inserting advertisements in the local newspapers about the intention of the purchaser to purchase the property. It is advisable to pay the Ernest money in advance after the expiry of time mentioned in such an advertisement. Eliciting information from the neighbours is a useful and prudent procedure.

ANCESTRAL PROPERTY:
In ancestral property. i.e., the property of a Hindu United Family, the number of coparceners and their shares should be ascertained. Minors should be well represented and the monies due to them should be shown as paid to their share or to the head of the family for legal necessity. Daughters and their married status and the date of such marriage have to be ascertained as the law has been amended giving equal shares to daughters in an ancestral property.

FLATS/ OFFICE FROM DEVELOPERS:
In the case of purchase of flats from the builder, in addition to the documents mentioned above, the following documents are required.

1. Title opinion prepared by the developer’s advocate
2. Agreement between the builder and the land owner.
3. Income tax permission if the value in the development agreement exceeds Rs. 25 lakhs.
4. Power of Attorney given to the builder by the land owner.
5. The completion and possession certificates
6. The agreements to sell and the agreement to build the flat should be scrutinized by the purchaser’s advocate to see if it is a balanced and fair one.

Prior to registration, the guideline value to register the property should be ascertained. The Purchaser should buy the stamp paper of 12.5% of the value shown in the sale deed for property within corporation limits and 13.5% for agricultural property. An additional 2% should be paid as registration fee. First sale of flats by the builder have a concessional slab rate of stamp duty.

A well drafted document and the payment of correct stamp duty thereon will secure a good and marketable title.