You may be ready mentally and financially for buying a property, but paperwork is unarguably most important part of sealing any deal. After all, only a firm paperwork will ensure your legal hold on the property.

Property registration in India is governed by section 17 of registration act, 1908; this act is applicable to whole of India except the state of Jammu & Kashmir. It refers to registering the changes in ownership and transactions related to the land/ immovable property. To guarantee yourself a legal title of land/immovable property you just purchased, you must register it with the concerned authority.

Registering your property has following benefits

•  It helps in setting disputes easily; if any arises about ownership of that property in any later stage.
•  The risk of fraud is greatly reduced.
•  The public record remains up-to-date which helps Govt. in conducting censuses, surveys and maintenance of any other useful public database.

The property registration in India is no more an extremely tough and tiring process which it used to be. Now with the computerized property registration system, the whole process is very easy. Computerized system has many benefits like removal of the middleman and transparent valuation. But computerization has not completely replaced the manual paperwork; you can only pay initial duties with the help of the computer; further submissions have to be done in the office of Registrar/sub-registrar or to SDM in some states. Form can either be downloaded from the website of department or can be obtained in the hard copy from the office.

Paperwork vetting by the lawyer

•    Enlightens the buyer about the property history / third party interfering (if any)
•    Acquires complete details of the original owner and previous owners
•    Checks for the rights of easements involved and the minor's rights (if any)
•    Checks for the Encumbrances (if any)
•    Current property status / encroachments on the property
•    Checks for the property revenue records such as Patta / Khata / Tax records
•    Checks for property disputes / court involvements / pathways disputes / violations
 
 
Complete transparency in property buying

Our Lawyers peruse all the property documents and cross checks them to maintain transparency in the deal. We also ensure that the property buying agreement is not one-sided, i.e. in favour of the seller, and keep the buyer's interests in mind.

It is important that a buyer gets the original deed examined by a lawyer to ensure if the seller has given any access to a third party on the property. Our lawyers also check if the seller has any suppressed facts about the property or his ownership.
 
Ensures all approvals are in place

Since a large number of home buyers are bound to be unaware if a property has all the civic approvals, a property lawyer will help him in checking if approvals from the municipal bodies such as building plan approvals, floor plan approvals, NOC from the civic authority, structural safety certificate, environment clearances and others are in place. Right from the commencement of the project to its completion, a property needs all the approvals from the municipal bodies. Non-compliance of the rules of the approving authorities will result in the project being stalled or reduction in market value. Not just this, a project should also have approvals from the fire department, electricity board, state traffic authority, water board and others.
 
Legal assistance buying a joint/old property

Our property lawyers peruse all the documents and explain the procedures of the joint ownership. We further scrutinize the joint development agreement and the terms of the property development and ensure the buyer obtains an NOC from all the owners. We further investigate whether the land is under acquisition for future use by the government.

In cases where the property has been funded by a bank, the bank lawyer also draws out a legal opinion. Even the seller may push you into closing the deal using the said legal opinion. Such legal opinions are typically drawn keeping the bank's interest in mind. Since it is your money at stake we suggest you get an independent and unbiased legal opinion.

Name : Parvathi Menon

Law Firm Name : Menon and Singh, Advocates and Solicitors

Country : India

City : New Delhi

State : DELHI