Legal documents to be checked before buying property

Today, we will discuss the 12 legal documents we must check before purchasing a property. What are those legal documents, let’s have a look. We have often heard cases of people buying a property that is owned by somebody else or has been mortgaged to the bank. Eventually leading to money getting stuck on the buyer and leading to unwanted court cases. So, to save your time, and money and have peace of mind, always check the below legal documents before buying a property. 

TITLE DOCUMENT: The first document is the title document. The meaning of the title document is from whom you are buying this property. In short, it refers to ownership of the property. Insist on seeing the original, and not a copy of the title deed because it will also tell you whether the seller owns the property legally or not. A buyer should check the original documents either the sale deed (it means the person who sells the property to you from where he gets that property, you have to look into that sale deed), gift deed (sometimes in such cases there is no sale deed of the property, the seller has got it from someone as a gift, so check the gift deed of that property), or conveyance deed ( conveyance deed, means the seller has bought it from any UID or corporate instruments). Although, the conclusion of all these deeds is to check and verify the property. 

CHANNEL DOCUMENT:  The second document is channel documents also called hawala documents. It means when the property is sold from ‘A’ person to ‘B’ and then from ‘B’ to ‘C’. so, whenever the property is sold out and a registered deed is built or any trail is built on, then you have to check everything in it. That’s why it is also known as a hawala, where the property is transferred from one person to another person. So, in this document, you have to check all channels.

ENCUMBRANCE CERTIFICATE: The next and most important one is the encumbrance certificate. This certificate tells you whether the property has any tax or is mortgaged, or has any penalty on it. Generally, we don’t look at this certificate but for safety purposes, you should go to the sub-registrar office, and fill out form number 22, it is almost in every state but it can vary in every state. So, you have to pay those nominal fees and you will get every information about that particular property. Like; who has bought this property, who sold it, taxes on the property, or any pending penalty or not. Therefore, if there is nothing pending then through form number 15, you will get it back and otherwise they answer back every pending detail of the property. But, there is also one limitation, if the registry department has no information available then they are also not able to provide any information to you. So, you must not depend completely on this as well. 

OCCUPANCY CERTIFICATE: The fourth one is OC. Normally, if anyone buys a property from a developer, then in that case they get the OC from a particular UID or the local government. Also, look at the other sanctioned plans from the builder. 

POSSESSION LETTER: The fifth one is the possession letter or it is also called the allotment letter. If you are buying any flat or property then you must check whether the builder has the possession letter of that particular property or not. This letter is given by the government when all the rules and regulations are followed.

 MORTGAGE: Next one is the mortgage, in which you have to check whether the property you are buying has any type of mortgage/loan or not. Although, if the property is mortgaged then the property should not be bought by the buyer.

TAX RECEIPTS: It is on every land purchase. The municipality takes land taxes. The only thing you have to check is to see whether the previous owner of the property has completely paid the taxes or not because it helps you to save your liabilities and you also get to know who owns the land. 

UTILITY BILLS: The next one is utility bills. You have to check whether the previous owner has paid all the utility bills or not. For example, electricity or water bills.

CAR ALLOTMENT LETTER: The ninth one is the Car Allotment Bill which means if you are buying any flat or property in the metropolitan area, there is a letter for a car parking area. So, you must check whether you get the car allotment letter or not from the owner. If the owner has no car allotment letter then you have to face some problems regarding it in the future.

RESIDENTS WELFARE ASSOCIATION (RWA): This point is for those people who take any property or flat or used to live in a building where the residential welfare association is already made. So, you have to look for NOC whether the previous owner has NOC or not because usually, people don’t pay the maintenance charges of the society and then the next owner will have to pay those liabilities.

MUTATION: The next document is mutation also called JAMA BANDI. It is additional evidence. In this document, you have to check whether the government documents have the previous owner’s name registered or not, and the day when you buy a property then you must register it in your name.

Conversion Certificate: The last and most important document is the conversion certificate. Mainly, there are two types of land- one is agricultural land and the other is non-agricultural, Therefore, you must not buy residential/commercial property built on agricultural land, and you must verify if the seller has converted the property to non-agricultural from agricultural if it can be done. Therefore, it is important to look for the conversion certificate.