How to check if the Land or Property is legally verified?

If you have any document of land like khasra, khatoni or you know name of the land owner, his father's name, address, location of land, then you can contact to record section in tehsil and can take a copy or you can consult a deed writer or an advocate or sub registrar of concerned department or you can visit the official website of land department of your state. and can see all details and can take a print out as well.

These days we see many frauds in the matters related to selling and purchase of immovable properties. So we should be very careful and take maximum precautions and make sure that we are not getting into difficulties. The following points should be taken care of before you decide.
1. Verify title deeds and all connected documents before buying the property. Verify the antecedents of the vendor also. By knowing about the vendor we can have a rough idea about the transactions he will do also. If there is any bad history is there about the vendor never go for such purchases.
2. Check the title of the property. A search of the records at the sub-registrar's office may be carried out. The report obtained from this search will show the recorded owner of the title of the property and changes if any in the title of the property. If the land is agriculture land, ask for dangal/pahani/khata of that land or/and Pattadar Passbook and Title Deed.
3. Undertaking a personal inspection of the property under the sale is very important. During this inspection, the buyer can get information from the neighbours regarding the ownership and possession of the property and any other matter which is relevant. This enquiry should be done very carefully without any reservations and should be enquired by three or four different people from three or four different persons in a very discreet manner.
4. If the owner is different and the power of attorney to sell the document is given to a different person, the document giving power of attorney should be a registered document and it should be verified properly before going for the purchase.
5. All original documents should be verified. Read all the documents. If any original document is missing ask the owner whether he has filled any complaint about this missing of the document in any police station or what are the actions he has taken to get the original. Some people keep the documents for some loan and will not reveal the facts. Don't get deceived by seeing the colour photostat copies and thinking them as the originals.
6. Verify photographs and thumb impressions of the vendor. These days we see the photographs and the thumb impressions of both the buyer and the seller on the registered sale deeds. Please verify them.
7. Verify the bills and receipts regarding the tax payments to municipality or Panchayati.
8. Verify the Encumbrance certificate.
9. If the owner has taken any loan from any organisation against that property, ask him to produce the clearance certificate that will be given by the loan lender after receiving all the amount back,
10. It is always better to place a notice in leading newspapers informing all about the proposed purchase of the property and call for any claims on that property by other people.
11. The drawings of the building should have the approval of the concerned authorities. Verify the approved plans also.
Always it is better to engage the services of a lawyer or a company who will conduct the enquiry and give you all the particulars and suggest you whether to go ahead or not. Please use a good lawyer who is in this profession and get the reports from him.

Land:
Get the copy of the latest tax paid receipt from the seller. Get the copy of the title deeds of the land.
Visit the sub registrar office and ask for a certified copy of the title deed and its prior deed so that the history can be traced back at least up to 15 years. 30 years is ideal. By quoting the deed number, apply for the Encumbrance certificate for 15/30 years on the same.
A NIL encumbrance is ideal. The records should be only the deeds of which we had obtained copies.
If the land tax receipt is not latest, you should insist on that.
Then visit village office and ensure there is no due, revenue recovery or encumbrance recorded there in the BTR. You may ask for a drawing of the property from the village office.
Obtain the latest possession certificate should show the seller as the owner and possessor.
Usually it is the seller's responsibility to give you all the above. However as money is involved he may give only a few of them. Hence we should either insist on them or get it by ourselves.
If things are not clear to us, we may engage a good lawyer to do these things for us. We may get a legal report from him certifying the title is clear and marketable and we can get a clear and marketable title on completing the sale formalities.
Flat/building
It is better to buy a completed flat. We should ensure completion and occupation certificate. The flat/house should be numbered. If the building or flat is not completed then we should ensure that the drawing and plan s accepted and sanctioned. The construction is as per the plan sanctioned. The terms and condition as per sanction are complied. The builder should have obtained al needed clearances.
Apart from these enquiries with neighbours and previous/other occupants may be done to know ground realities.

Buying a property is a huge investment and for most it involves lifetime of savings and for the same reason an encumbrance free property is what everyone wants.

While buying a property one must give adequate time and effort to verify the details of property for clear title and no dispute over the property.

To verify the same, the best way is to appoint a professional or a lawyer who will get the documents inspected and verified from the registrar where the land or prosperity records are kept. He can even get you a certified copy for a fees.

Other way in case of new properties the same can be verified online from respective land and property registrar website by providing the relevant details.

In case of old properties one will have to take help of lawyer and get the details verified from land revenue or property registrar office.

It is suggested to take help of lawyers as there are many possibilities and cases where people have been duped by selling the same property to many or fake papers being produced to sell a property to gullible buyers and defraud them.

It's is better to be late to stay safe in matters of property.

We need to have thorough verification so as to ensure that the property being negotiated for the purchase is free from any legal tussle. Recently, the real estate has created a favourable situation for the property buyers, even then it would be better to make your checklist to know the status regarding its authenticity.
There are a few imporant steps to be taken prior to such a negotiation so as to avoid any legal complication in future. The following points are listed below -
1) Check for the title in the papers - The property deed should be distinct and clear in relation to its title and should be free from any legal dispute. The title should show the correct name of the owner. In the event of buying a property already sold, you need to study the connected papers minutely or still better get the papers checked up by the property lawyer to know its authenticity.
2) Look for the bank approval- If your home is being financed from the bank, it could resolve your task to a great extent. The bank would undertake the exercise of evaluating your loan amount after examining the property. Their evaluations would ease your problems in relation to legality of the land. However, you should be cautious enough while signing the loan agreement and in that situation, you need to check all the clauses entered in the draft.
3) Encumbrance Certificate - This ls an essential document indicatig clearly that it is free from any mortgage or free from pending loan. It should also show the name of the previous owner of the property. This is a very important document while buying a resale property giving you the clue of the previous owner.
4) Match the approved plan with the actual site - In case of buying an apartment project, ensure that you have gone through the approved map of the builder passed by the local authorities. This can provide you a better idea regarding the authenticity of the land.
5) Check out property tax slip - While buying a resale property, verify the tax slips of the previous owner. This will give you clue whether the colony or the area under deal is regularised or an illegal property. You should also be in in a position to know its registration status and the current status of dues of the municipal authority if it is the registered one.
6) The project must be from a registered society- Apartment projects are from the registered society along with with a resident welfare association. This is rather a legal process and provides you an idea regarding the legality of the project which you are negotiating or buying.

Understanding of land records and title deeds etc is a professional work and generally people hire some lawyer or state agents who know about these things in details. Still, it is better to know some basics about it so that no one can cheat or commit a fraud with the gullible people. So the first and foremost thing that is to be seen is on whose name the property is. Is it a single name or some joint names? This is important because if it is joint names then all the owners should be willing to sell it and are available or give authority through affidavit and notary certification at the time of registration or mutation in new name.
So the documents should be in the name of the so called owner of the property. If he had purchased it earlier from someone then transfer and mutation of the property in his name are mandatory before we negotiate with him in the matter. Generally, there will be a municipal tax on land or property and that name in the tax receipt should match with the owners name that we have checked in the earlier deed documents. It is an important step to crosscheck the things because if the municipal tax is going in some other name it means there is some mismatch and proper mutation had not been carried out. In property transaction crosschecking the things from one to another is very essential. The tax receipt to be checked in this manner should be the latest and we should insist the seller to first deposit the municipal tax up to date and then only negotiations can start.
Then, we have to just check whether it is an ancestral property or acquired property. If it is acquired then there would be less hassle as in ancestral property there are many contenders and there names would be there in the original documents.
Sometimes a seller might convince us that he is selling his part of the property. One should be very careful about this because even that part should have been duly mutated and transferred in his name and transfer tax is deposited in Govt registration office. Showing a document with many names as owner and then selling ones portion is not admissible and one has to be much cautioned at that point.
Nowadays most of the places the land records are updated in digital form in the websites of the registrar office and one has to check the document number there. If it matches then it is a great solace to the buyer.
One of the most important thing in this matter is that property should not be mortgaged with bank or any other agency from where the owner might had taken a loan. So this is to be checked and original document is to be sought as banks will keep the original with them in such cases and owner will try to convince us with a photo copy only.
The last point is that there should not be any court case going in that property between any parties which have direct and indirect interest in it.

Nowadays the verification of such things are made easy. With the correct particulars of land or building you can apply for non encumbrance certificate from the concerned state's registration department. This can be done nowadays even online. http://keralaregistration.gov.in/fileUploads/ec_help_2.pdf is the link which will help you to get an encumbrance certificate online. With that certificate you can even approach a lawyer friend or real estate friend, who can help you about the legal formalities to get the registration.

There must be a motive behind buying property. Whether you are buying a house for your stay or it is just for investment, it should be clear in your mind. There is a lot of difference between these two. You can take a property in any city for investment but not for living. To earn money, you can also take interest in the commercial space, but investing wisely would be right.

When you buy a property, you should know about who owns it, that is, who owns the title. For this, you should ask for papers. Also, see if there is any case on that building. If confused, consult an expert or lawyer. With the right documentation, your money will be safe because most of the cases of fraud in land or property are due to a lack of firm documents. If you are going to buy a flat, then see if the builder has got the approval to start construction. The builders try to trick this. For this, find out from the departments concerned and if you do not get a satisfactory answer, then resort to the right to information. This will tell you the truth.

Find out if there is any loan taken on the property. If this is the case, you will be responsible for its payment. It will not be easy to know and it may require a lot of hard work. Many builders have lost their investors this way. They take a loan by mortgaging the property and selling it further. Later the investor has to repay that debt.
It is also important to know how people from whom you are buying property. The advantage of buying flats from well-known builders is that there is no possibility of a big mess there. While buying a flat from a builder, definitely see how many houses he has built. This shows his ability. Apart from this, also look at the balance sheet of the company, which shows its financial position. Breathtaking advertisements of property continue to be printed and people also get caught in their deception. Such things are also shown in them which are not actually there. Then spending on many things also does not make sense - if you do not know how to swim or you are not fond of it, then there is no use in paying extra money for a flat in a swimming pool building.

Collect information about the rules and regulations of the property where you are going to buy. Many cities have different laws. Housing societies also have their own rules. In the houses of societies, a copy of their bylaws must be seen, and no. Should be taken.