Home Buying in Bangalore: The Ten Legal Papers Worth Checking First

Most legal trouble in property comes from papers nobody asked for. Before a family commits to a flat, house or plot in Bangalore, ten sets of documents deserve a lawyer's attention. Below, each is described in the same three beats: what it shows, where it is obtained and which warning sign to watch for. Notes on plots and independent houses appear wherever the check changes.

The Logic Behind the List

A seller's last deed records one purchase and nothing more. Questions about earlier owners, about permission for the building and about outside claims need other records, and different departments keep them. For that reason the ten papers below are read together, and a bank's legal team normally repeats part of the review when it funds the purchase.

A practical habit helps throughout. Note the owner's name, survey or site number, extent and boundaries from the first document, then check them against all the others.

Ownership Papers From the Sub-Registrar

The sub-registrar's office holds the papers that show who owns the property, who has dealt with it and on what terms the new sale is made.

Title deeds

These show an unbroken line of ownership. A lawyer begins with the oldest deed on file, the mother deed, and works forward to the present seller over a period that is usually around 30 years or longer. Every step must be a registered instrument, such as a sale, gift, partition or release deed, or a will with its supporting family documents.

Gaps are the warning sign: a missing deed, a relative's share never released, or a transfer made solely on a power-of-attorney document. The seller has to cure these before any sale. Former farmland brings in land revenue records and the order converting its use.

The EC

An encumbrance certificate (EC) is the official list of registered dealings during a requested period, such as mortgages and sales. Applications go to the registration department directly or through Kaveri Online Services. Form 15 means entries were found, whereas Form 16 means there were none.

Ask for it to cover the same span as the title chain, up to the present month. A mortgage with no release entry after it is the warning sign. Remember that the document is silent on suits, unregistered agreements and unpaid taxes.

Agreement for sale, then sale deed

The agreement sets out the price, payment stages, possession date and the consequences of default, and the sale deed that follows transfers ownership once stamped and registered. Until the agreement is registered, RERA lets a promoter collect no more than 10% of the price.

Read the property description in the agreement beside the earlier deeds and the plan. For an apartment, verify the carpet area, the share of land that goes with it and the parking allotted. Registration costs 2%, and for homes priced over Rs. 45 Lakhs Karnataka's stamp duty is 5%, nearer 5.6% after cess and surcharge.

Lease documents

A tenant's rights do not end on sale. Under the 1882 property transfer law, the buyer becomes the landlord and the existing lease continues. Gather every agreement, the deposit being held and the rent history.

Leases beyond a year need registration and so appear on the EC. The warning sign is an oral tenancy or an unregistered long lease, and the sale agreement should settle whether the flat is delivered vacant and who refunds the deposit.

Joint development agreement

A good share of Bangalore projects rest on a JDA, where the landowner provides the plot and the builder constructs. The homes are shared between them, so a buyer needs proof that the particular unit belongs to the seller's own allocation.

The agreement and the builder's power of attorney must be registered and remain valid. The RERA definition of promoter also reaches a landowner who sells out of a share, so every holder of title to the land should sign the agreement for sale, personally or through an authorised person.

Permission and Civic Records

These papers show whether construction was permitted and whether the municipality has the property on its books.

Approved building plan

The plan must be approved by the city corporation (inside Greater Bengaluru) or by the planning authority for areas outside. Compare floors, flats per floor, setbacks and parking on site with the drawing. An extra floor or flat that the plan does not show is unapproved, however good the title may be.

For a plot, ask for the conversion order and the approved layout that shows the site number and size sold. A project still being built must also hold a Karnataka RERA registration, and the plan uploaded there should match what the sales office displays.

Occupancy certificate

After inspecting the completed building against its plan, the same authority issues the occupancy certificate (OC). It declares the building fit for use, and permanent power and water connections for a new block depend on it.

Note the number and date, and confirm that it names the exact tower and floor, since large projects get certificates in parts. A possession letter does not replace it. When an older resale flat has no OC, request a lawyer's opinion on the likely effect on lending and khata.

Property tax and khata

Unpaid tax passes to the next owner with the property, so ask for several years of receipts plus this year's. Name, built-up area and usage on the receipts should agree with the deeds.

Within the city, a final e-khata must be in hand to register a sale. Khata is not title, but it files the property under A or B, and banks lend readily against A khata while rarely approving B khata. Learn the category before paying an advance.

Claims From Outside the Paperwork

Two checks reach beyond property records to the courts, to lenders' registries and to the physical site.

Litigation

The law binds a buyer to the outcome of any suit pending over the property, even when the buyer was unaware. Lawyers call this lis pendens, and it flows from section 52 of the 1882 property transfer statute. The EC cannot reveal such suits.

Search the eCourts portal for the seller and earlier owners, and look through Karnataka RERA for grievances filed against the builder. Get a signed declaration that no suit, attachment or acquisition notice exists. A final search on the CERSAI registry shows whether some lender has already taken the property as security.

Survey

The site on the ground must match the site on paper. A licensed surveyor measures the plot or house and compares the figures with the survey sketch, the layout plan and the schedule attached to the deed. A shortfall in extent, a road drawn but not built or a neighbour's wall inside the boundary should be sorted out before registration.

With a flat, the equivalent steps compare the carpet area promised with the agreement and the land share with the deeds. Land close to a lake, a storm drain or a high-tension line may also face buffer rules. Walking the site with the approved plan settles most of this quickly.

Before Any Money Moves

A mismatch between two documents is the commonest early sign of a problem, and a careful buyer often notices it before the lawyer does. Keep copies of all ten sets in one folder, labelled by the headings above, so that questions from the bank can be answered quickly and nothing is left to memory.

Insist on the lawyer's opinion in writing before paying beyond a token amount, and keep that token returnable should the title fail. Test the loan and the cash needed up front on the EMI calculator meanwhile, as the bank's legal and technical review will follow. Buyers living abroad should read the NRI guidance, and our team handles questions on specific projects through the contact page.