Purchase of Residential Sites - Guidelines. S. Basavaraj, Advocate, Daksha Legal. Bangalore
22-March-2021 00:23
Purchase of residential sites. Guidelines. S.Basavaraj, Advocate, Daksha Legal.
Please note: This Article has to be read along with the earlier Articles on purchase of agricultural lands and converted lands since many aspects overlap. Links are given below:
Documents required: 1. Title deed. 2. Family tree. 3. Khata Certificate, Extract and Endorsement issued by Town Municipality, Corporation, Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike etc. 4. If Bangalore Development Authority site, then Allotment letter, Possession Certificate, Lease cum sale agreement, sale deed and khata in favour of allotee. 5. Death certificate. 6. Special notice issued by BBMP for amalgamation of sites and assigning single khata. 7. Mortgage deed, if any. 8. Encumbrance Certificates. 9. Public notice. 10. Tax paid receipt. 11. Litigation, if any.
1.Title deeds: When it comes to title search of sites, there are three aspects. Firstly, site which is in a newly formed layout by real estate developers; secondly, sites formed by House Building Co-operative Societies and lastly, the sites which are being re-sold. (a) In the first case i.e. site in a new layout, title deeds of the vendors who sold the lands to the developer have to be verified. However, conversion of land and sanction of layout plan by the planning authority plays a dominant role since at this juncture, the revenue and planning authorities have scrutinized legal aspects. (b) In the case of stray sites which are re-sold, careful title search has to be undertaken on all aspects. (c) In case of sites offered by house building co-operative societies, title deeds under which the lands were purchased by the society have to be verified. Moreover, if you are not a member of the society, it necessary to carefully read the byelaws of the society to avoid future objection/litigation from the members. Here also, conversion order and sanction from planning authority is a must. Please note: I have exhaustively discussed the manner of title search of converted lands and agricultural lands in separate articles. Please read them carefully since all the parameters that are applicable to the lands apply to sties also. Several aspects like deeds, family tree, death certificate etc are exhaustively discussed in my two articles regarding purchase of agricultural lands and converted lands. They can be accessed in the following two links. 2. Khata Certificate, Khata Extract and Endorsement issued by City Corporation/Bangalore Mahanagara Palike/BBMP. In case of newly formed sites, these documents may not be available. One has to see whether the site numbers mentioned in the sale agreement with the developer is found in the layout plan and the release order of the Planning Authority. Always make a spot inspection before making initial payment. However, sites which changed hands and being re-sold would possess Khata certificate. Hence these documents along with Property Identification number allotted by Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagarapalike have to be verified. 3. If the site is originally allotted by Bangalore Development Authority, then Allotment letter, Possession Certificate, Lease cum sale agreement, Sale deed and khata in favour of allotee have to be verified. 4. If two or more sites are combined together, Special notice issued by BBMP for amalgamation of sites and assigning single khata have to be scrutinized. 5. Mortgage deed, if any in respect of the site has to be verified by obtaining encumbrance certificate from the date of original purchase from the vendor. 6. Public notice. Most of the owners do not take out paper publication to save money. However, in case of sites situated in urban areas and sites which are being re-sold, it is always advisable to take out paper publication calling for objections, if any, for the sale. 7. Litigations, if any. This again has to be examined with the help of a lawyer. Search has to be undertaken with reference to original survey number also from which the site is carved out. 8. Up-to-date property tax paid receipts. Payment of property tax to Municipality or Municipal Corporation is must. Hence, it is necessary to scrutinize and satisfy payment of property tax of sites which are being re-sold. 9. Site with construction. Apart from undertaking title search of the site, when the site comes with construction, it is necessary to verify the plan sanction from the Municipality or Municipal Corporation etc. Please examine the location of the site since the authority for issuing plan sanction differs area-wise. It is necessary to verify adherence to plan sanctioned. Buyers should be careful about major deviation like unauthorized additional floor. Please note: This article does not deal with other forms of sites like revenue sites, village gramthana sites, khaneshumari sites etc. Strictly speaking, agricultural lands cannot be used for non-agricultural/residential purposes without conversion, plan sanction etc. Hence it is better to avoid purchase of sites carved out of non-converted agricultural lands.
Note: This article will be updated from time to time depending on changes in legal provisions, judgments etc.
