Basic Concepts

Sale Deed :

Sale deed is a legal document that contains transfer of property ownership from a seller to a buyer. This is one of the most valuable legal documents while purchasing or selling a property. This document needs to be registered mandatorily.

Some of the details included in a sale deed are listed below:

Full names & Residential addresses of the buyer and the seller

Plot / survey no. Exact location and address ,Total area of the property

Date , place of execution of the agreement and Total amount to be paid for the property

Mode & Time of payment, Date of possession of the property

Date on which the seller would provide the original property related documents to the buyer

Declaration by the seller that the property is not subject to any government acquisition and property is free from any liabilities such as lease, mortgage, or charge on the property

The sale deed should be registered at a sub-registrar’s office in the presence of the seller, buyer, and witnesses. If a buyer or seller is unable to be present due to unavoidable circumstances, a person nominated by him/her, empowered with power of attorney, can execute the sale deed.

Parent Documents is an important document that traces the origin ownership of the property from the start (if the property has had various owners). It is a document that helps in the further sale of the property, thereby establishing the new ownership. In case of absence of the original parent docs, certified copies should be obtained from the registering authorities. It includes the change in ownership of the property, be it through sale, partition, gift or inheritance.

Title deed is a legal document that can also be used to transfer the ownership of a property from one person to another in instances such as a gift, exchange, mortgage, etc. A title deed is useful when a person does not want to sell a property, but may want to add another person to the title. A title deed generally includes a description of the property that is being sold and the name of the person who legally owns the property. It can also have names of multiple owners.

Torence plan (Only for specific areas)

Torence plan is a detailed plan of the property prepared by a licensed surveyor that will have accurate details of the measurements including width, length, borders etc. This plan is needed only in some specific areas.

Completion certification is required only for a newly constructed building to ensure the supply of basic amenities, such as water, electricity and drainage system. Electricity connection cannot be provided to a building without a completion certificate from CMDA or from corporation. This is applicable only for special buildings and multi storey buildings and not for ordinary buildings.

The completion certificate also ensures that the builder has constructed the building as per the approved building plan and no violations are made. Only after obtaining the completion certificate, the builder can hand over the possession of the house to the buyer.

Power of attorney (P.O.A.) is issued in substitute of the owner, where he could not maintain the property for certain purposes. If the property has more than one owner the power of attorney should be issued by all the owners and incase any of the owner is dead the power is cancelled.

Conditions of Power of Attorney

P.O.A. is not valid if the owner is dead , then the property belongs to the owner’s wife and his legal heirs.

P.O.A is not valid if it is not registered or if the validity date is over.

P.O.A gets expired if the power agent is dead, then the property belongs to the owner’s wife or his legal heirs but not to the power agent legal heirs.

P.O.A. gets expired when the property owner cancels the power.

Before purchasing a property, check whether the power agent has all the rights to sell the property and also check whether the P.O.A is valid till date.

Field Measurement Book (FMB Sketch)

The Field Measurement Book (FMB) sketch can be very useful to avoid boundary and border disputes. If the marker stones are not present for a plot, it is always advisable to spend a small fee to get the markers placed by a surveyor. FMB sketch contains name of street, survey no. , village details and type of land (wet or dry land).This simple process can avoid legal hassles.

Note :

Check all legal documents with a lawyer before buying any property.

Patta is issued only for lands and not for individual apartments.

Always check the A-Register available in VAO office before buying any property.

All details furnished here are related to Tamilnadu only and are subjected to change based on government norms.

All the information given above is only advisory and not liable for any legal commitment.

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