Documents to check before buying a property

You must always remember that property documents are the most vital part of any investment in properties. In order to avoid fraudulence attempt to cheat you, it is essential to check the following documents:

1.       Sale Deed: This will be the core legal document that will act as proof of sale as well as the transfer of ownership from your buyer to you. that This should be registered compulsorily. It is to be noted prior to the execution of Sale Deed, you must execute the sale agreement while at the same time checking for the compliance of various terms and conditions as agreed upon by you and your seller. Also, well before executing the sale deed, you must check whether the property under deal is bearing a clear title.

2.       Mother Deed: This is the parent document which is an important legal document that would help you in tracing the antecedent ownership of the property under deal right from the start. You will need this document to further sale your property. In case, there is no mother deed available, you must make sure that you obtain the certified copies from the registering authorities. Also, it is very much important that the mother deed has recorded the references to previous ownerships in a continuing sequence. In case, something is missing, you should refer the records from registering offices. The sequence should have been updated until the current owner. This is very important if you’re buying through a home loan.

3.       Approval Plan of Your Building: Any building owner must obtain an approval plan either from the jurisdictional commissioner or any other officer who got authorized by commissioner. One will be required to submit a set of documents in order to obtain a building approval plan. Those documents include:

·            Title Deed

·            Property Assessment Extract

·            Property PID number

·            City/Panchayat survey sketch

·            Up-to date tax receipt

·            Earlier sanction plans

·            Drawings of the property

·            Demand drafts

·            Foundation certificate

·            Land use certificate

4.       Conversion Certificate: With the major amounts of land being agricultural in documents to check India, a conversion certificate is important to be obtained from the legal body. This is the certificate that will be issued by competent revenue authority in order to change the use of land from agricultural to housing purposes. A NOC should be obtained from the Tahsildar office and land regulatory for this conversion.

5.       Encumbrance Certificate: This would mean changes in the ownership on property that has been held against a home loan. This would consist of all the registered transactions that are done on the property during the time duration for which this EC is filed. In simple terms, this will provide you with evidences of mortgages, title transfers or any legally registered transaction that affects your property.

6.       Power of Attorney: This is a legal procedure that is used in giving the authority to another person by the owner on behalf of him/her. The PoA holder can let-out, mortgage, sell the property on your behalf. So be careful before giving Power Of Attorney. In late 2013, the government has made registering PoA  mandatory to be valid. Obtain in original the PoA given by the previous owners to any person.

7.       Tax Receipts: These would ensure that the taxes have been paid until the date of sale. You must make sure that you ask your seller for the latest original receipts in order to check the details of owner’s name along with the tax payer’s name and date of payment. If your seller does not have the tax receipts, you are allowed to contact the municipal body by using survey number of the property in order to confirm the ownership. Other bills like water and electricity bills are also need to be checked.

8.       Completion Certificate: This will be issued by the municipal authorities stating that building is in compliance with rules and is built according to the approved plans. This is very important at the time of purchasing

9.       Occupancy Certificate: An inspection will be performed by the authorities when the builder is applying for this certificate in order to ensure that the building is meeting all the norms that are specified. In simple terms, the certificate would certify you that the project is ready for occupancy.