Property Documents to Check Before Buying in Lucknow
Most property disputes that reach a court begin with a document nobody read. This note sets out the papers usually examined before an agreement is signed, what each one is being read for, and which of them cannot be assessed from a photograph.
Guide
Why the documents decide the matter
A purchase of immovable property is not a transaction in a thing so much as a transaction in a set of rights over it. Whether the seller has those rights, whether they are free of anyone else's claim, and whether they can be transferred at all are questions answered by documents rather than by inspection of the site.
That is why a title examination is not a formality performed after the price is agreed. It is the work that tells you what you are agreeing to buy. A defect found before an agreement is signed is a negotiating point. The same defect found afterwards is a dispute.
The chain of title
The first thing examined is how the present owner came to own the property, and how the person before them did. Each transfer in that sequence is a separate document, and each has to be internally consistent with the ones on either side of it: the same property, the same parties, the same extent.
Breaks in the chain are common and are not always fatal. A missing link may be capable of being established from other records, or it may indicate that someone outside the transaction still has a claim. Which of the two it is has to be established rather than assumed.
- The deed by which the present owner acquired the property, and the deeds preceding it
- Where the property came through succession, the documents establishing how it devolved
- Where it came from a development or allotment, the allotment and possession documents
- Any partition, release or relinquishment affecting the share being sold
Encumbrances and existing claims
A property may be owned by the seller and still be encumbered — mortgaged to a lender, subject to a charge, attached in execution of a decree, or the subject of a pending suit. Encumbrance records are searched to establish what is registered against the property, and the search has to cover a period long enough to be meaningful.
A search that comes back clear is useful but not conclusive. Not everything that affects a property is registered, and an unregistered arrangement can still give rise to a claim. What the search establishes is that nothing registered stands against the title in the period searched.
Approvals, land use and permissions
Where the property is built upon, or is to be built upon, the sanctioned plan and the approvals granted by the development or municipal authority concerned are examined against what actually exists on site. A structure that departs from the sanctioned plan is a liability that passes to whoever owns it next.
Land use is a separate question from ownership. Agricultural land does not become residential because it has been sold as residential, and the permission required to change its use is a matter of record. Where a property is in a scheme or a colony, the terms on which it was allotted may themselves restrict transfer.
Identity of the property and of the seller
The property described in the deed and the property being shown have to be the same property. Boundaries, extent and identifying numbers in the revenue and municipal records are compared with the deed and with what is on the ground, because a discrepancy that is obvious on paper is often invisible on a site visit.
The seller's capacity matters as much as their title. Where the seller is acting for someone else, the authority to do so is examined; where the property is held jointly, every person whose consent is required has to be a party; and where a minor or a person under disability has an interest, the transfer may need permission that cannot be given by the family alone.
Why originals are examined
A scanned copy establishes what a document says. It does not establish that the document exists, that it is the version that was registered, that it carries the endorsements it should carry, or that it has not been altered. In property work these are the questions that decide matters, and they are answered by looking at the paper.
Where originals are not with the seller — because they are with a lender, or with another family member, or lost — that is itself a material fact, and the explanation for it is part of what is examined.
Checklist
Practical Checklist
- Title deeds in the seller's chainThe deed under which the seller holds, and the deeds preceding it far enough back to establish an unbroken sequence.
- Encumbrance searchA search of the registered encumbrances against the property, over a period long enough to be meaningful.
- Revenue and municipal recordsRecords showing the property, its extent and the name in which it stands, compared against the deed.
- Mutation entriesEntries recording earlier transfers, so that the records and the deeds tell the same story.
- Sanctioned plan and approvalsThe plan and the approvals granted, compared with the structure that actually stands on the land.
- Land-use positionThe use for which the land is classified, and any permission granted to change it.
- Tax and charge receiptsReceipts showing that property tax and other recurring charges have been paid up to date.
- Identity and capacity of the sellerProof of identity, and of authority where the seller acts for another or the property is held jointly.
- PossessionWho is in physical possession, on what basis, and whether anyone else has a right to remain.
Cautions
Common Mistakes
- Paying an advance before the title is examinedMoney paid before the papers are read is money already committed. Examine first, then commit.
- Treating a clear encumbrance search as the end of the matterIt establishes what is registered. It does not establish that no unregistered claim exists.
- Reading the deed but not the recordsA deed and the revenue record can describe different properties, or different extents of the same property. Both are read, and against each other.
- Accepting scans of everythingSome questions can only be answered from originals. A seller who will not produce them has given you information.
- Assuming the whole family has agreedWhere the property is held jointly or came through succession, every person whose consent is needed must be a party to the transfer, not merely aware of it.
- Signing an agreement drafted only by the sellerAn agreement that does not deal with what happens if the title turns out to be defective leaves the buyer carrying that risk.
See also
Related Services
Provenance
Authorship and Review
About this note
Published by H.R. Legal Associate, advocates, Lucknow, for general information.
Date published
Date reviewed
Important
Disclaimer
This note is general information about an area of law. It is not legal advice, it is not an advertisement or a solicitation of work, and reading it creates no advocate–client relationship.
Which records exist for a particular property, how far back a search should go, and which approvals apply depend on where the property is, how it is classified and how it was acquired. The position for a specific property should be established on its own documents before anything is signed.
Procedures, limitation periods, court fees, stamp duty, government charges and tax rates change, and what applies depends on the facts of the particular matter. Nothing here should be acted on without advice taken on your own documents, and no outcome is promised or predicted.
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If a question on this page touches something you are dealing with, it should be looked at on your own documents. Sending an enquiry does not create an advocate–client relationship, and confidential documents should not be sent through this website.