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A search report traces the history of a property - who was the original owner of the property and how it has moved hands over a period of time before reaching the present seller. This is an important part of a housing loan process. A search report is usually prepared by an advocate, who after visiting the registrar's office and inspecting the property documents, issues a title certificate.

A title certificate states whether the property is unencumbered and has a clear marketable title. This search report and title certificate can be obtained from one's own advocate or if the search has already been conducted by the current owner, one can have his advocate inspect the report to ascertain the title of the property. One may do a survey of the title of the property himself also by visiting the office of the registrar.

The report traces any charges or encumbrances created on the property and their present status - whether the charges have been met and the property has been released, or if there are some charges pending still. This search on the title of a property is taken for a period of the past 30 years. It is mandatory for a developer to annex a copy of the report in the 'agreement to sell' with the intended purchaser. This document will state if there is any existing mortgage, litigation, condition or claim, which is likely to affect the title of the buyer adversely. ...

A gift is the transfer of property by one person to another made voluntarily and without consideration. The person transferring the property is called the donor. The person to whom the property is transferred is called the donee. The donee must accept the property. Such acceptance must be made during the lifetime of the donor and while he is still capable of giving it. In case the donee dies before acceptance, the gift is void.

According to Section 122 of the Transfer of Property Act, the essential elements of a gift are:
Transfer of property ...

The day-to-day management of the building is the responsibility of the housing association. An association is formed by the residents of the complex. Any person who is a resident of that apartment complex has a right to become a member of the association. The member will have to pay a pre-decided amount as subscription or maintenance charge.


Bye-laws
Any group of apartment owners can form an association to ensure better maintenance of the building, betterment of the area, and to solve common problems. The association should constitute a committee or governing body and elect its members as its office bearers. The byelaws should be approved by the Registrar of Cooperative Societies and should proclaim the association's aims and objectives. They should spell out the rules and regulations that apply to members. They should have details of how the association will run, who can become a member, who can become an office bearer of the association, and in what way the association will help members. It must also say how the association will use the money collected from subscriptions. It should mention the office bearers who are the authorised signatories for cheques and monetary transactions. The bye-laws can be amended with the approval of the Registrar of Cooperative Societies with the jurisdiction. ...

The Indian Registration Act 1902 and the Transfer of Property Act 1882 contain relevant provisions specifying documents that are compulsorily registrable, and those exempted from being registered. The registration of all documents is not essential. Under the law, some documents are compulsorily registrable. These include documents related to property. Registration of a document acts as notice to the general public.

According to Section 54 of the Transfer of Property Act 1882, any sale of immovable property whose value is Rs 100 or more needs to be registered. This effectively means all property sales need to be registered.

In addition, all forms of mortgages need to be registered. The only exception is a mortgage created by depositing of title deeds or equitable mortgage, which is not compulsorily registrable. ...

Constructing a house is a long process. One option is to get the construction done on a turnkey basis. In this case, the owner and a builder enter into a contract where the contractor completes the entire construction along with fixtures and fittings, and hands over the keys to the owner on completion. The owner has to make the payment and occupy the house on completion of the construction. The other option is to enter into a labour contract only. In this case, the owner enters into a labour contract with the contractor. The material is purchased by the owner himself. Only the labour is supplied by the contractor. It is essential to formalise the arrangement first. It is important to enter into a contract with the contractor. The mutually-agreed terms should be put down in black and white. The terms and conditions should be written down and signed by both the parties. In case of a construction contract, it is better to have a two-part contract. The first part of the contract should relate to the structure to be built. The second part should relate to the fixtures, fittings and furnishings to be fitted in the house. The contract should specifically cover the terms.



These include: ...

In the early 1980s, a few friends and I formed a layout on land duly converted for residential purpose and got a partition deed executed with each of us getting one 36x60 feet site. I got a corner site. Then, the government initiated proceedings for acquisition of our land for a bank employees' housing society against which we filed our objections and got our portion of the land dropped from acquisition. In 1988 the society formed the layout. We made provisions for roads, and an additional 20 feet was added and a road of 45 feet was made. With this, those of us who had corner sites got additional area and I got 43x60 feet since then. As per partition deed, I have title for 36x60 plot whereas presently I am in possession of a higher dimension plot. I have paid property tax under the then prevailing CVS for my actual holding and in the present SAS declared the same. Can I obtain title on the excess land of 420 sqft I am in possession from 1988? If I want to sell that property as it is, can I factor in the excess area?

The excess area which you have would be part of the land which has been acquired for the society and as such would be the land which would belong to the agency which has acquired it. If you can ascertain who the owner is you could ask for transfer of the land. Otherwise, you would be retaining possession without title till you have perfected your title by adverse possession, which in case against the government would be after 30 years of payment of tax and uninterrupted possession, and in case of a private person it would be 12 years.

I purchased one acre of agricultural dry land a year ago registered it in my name. Recently, a broker sent me a lawyer's notice saying that he had paid Rs 1 lakh advance for purchasing the same land and made an agreement for purchase which he says has been registered in the registrar's office. Upon investigation I found that the validity period of the agreement was three months and the seller had sold the land to me after the expiry of this period. The seller is dead. His parents, who as the parties signed the sale deed in favour of me, showed me the documentary evidence for returning the advance amount to the broker through a demand draft. The broker says my registered sale deed is not a valid one and wants me to give the land to him. Please advise.

Firstly, in order to protect the possession, you should initiate proceedings against any threatened action and make the necessary application for injunction from any interference from the broker. If the sale deed has been executed after the agreement was terminated and there was no valid contract existing prior to the sale deed being executed in your favour, you need not be worried.

Ours is an ancestral property now held by my older uncle who is a bachelor. Recently, he executed a Will and wished to share the property with both his younger brothers which include my father. The other brother who never bothered all these years wants a share now. How do we avoid giving him the share he does not deserve?

If the property is ancestral property, it will belong to all the coparceners. This will include your uncle, your father, the elder uncle and their respective family members, including the daughters. Your uncle who wishes to bequeath the property by a Will can only bequeath his share in the ancestral property. Your father and the other uncle will also have a share in the ancestral property irrespective of his deserving it or not.

I am planning to buy a site under the notification of 'expressway from Outer Ring Road to international airport.' We heard that this proposal is cancelled. We are planning to go ahead with registration and house construction. Where do we find out about the cancellation?

You should check with the National Highways Authority of India which is the acquiring authority. You should also check with the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board or the land acquisition office. You should ensure that there are no notifications, because if the land is notified but the process is stayed for a while it could still be acquired.

We purchased a flat with a registered sale deed for undivided interest. The flat was exclusively built for us by a construction and sale agreement including car parking. It is not registered. We have a separate khata and are regularly paying property tax. Now we want to gift it to our son through a gift deed and want to include the details and car parking with undivided interest. What is the procedure?

You have to make a gift deed for the undivided share and also a sale deed for the flat. The gift deed is to be registered with the sub-registrar's office concerned. If the gift is of a property in Karnataka, the stamp duty is Rs 1,000 and the registration fee is Rs 500.