Legal Checks Before Buying a Home in Bangalore: Ten Documents to Verify
Legal checks before buying a home in Bangalore come down to ten sets of papers, and each one answers a different question about the property. This guide explains what each document proves, where it is verified in Karnataka and what a gap in it means. It applies to new apartments, resale flats, independent houses and plots, with notes where the check differs by property type.
Why ten checks and not one
A sale deed in the seller's name shows who bought the property last. It does not show whether the earlier owners had good title, whether the building follows its approved plan or whether a bank or a court has a claim. Each of those questions has its own record, kept by a different office.
The ten checks below fall into three groups. The first three cover ownership and the contract, the next three cover the building and the civic record, and the last four cover other people who may have rights in the property. A property lawyer reads all of them together, and the bank's legal team repeats part of the work when there is a home loan.
Ownership and the contract
These three checks establish that the seller owns what is being sold and that the deal itself is recorded properly.
1. Title deeds and the chain of ownership
The title check traces ownership from the earliest available deed, often called the mother deed, to the present seller. Lawyers in Bangalore usually ask for a chain of at least 30 years. Every transfer in that chain should be a registered document: a sale deed, gift deed, partition deed, release deed or a will with the supporting family papers.
The names, survey numbers, extent and boundaries should match from one deed to the next. A missing link, a share that was never released by a family member or a sale made only on a power of attorney is a gap that the seller has to close before the sale. For land that was once agricultural, the chain also includes the revenue records and the conversion order.
2. Encumbrance certificate
The encumbrance certificate (EC) lists the registered transactions on a property for the period requested. In Karnataka it is issued by the sub-registrar's office and is available through the Kaveri Online Services portal. Form 15 lists the transactions found, and Form 16 is a nil certificate for a period with none.
Ask for an EC that covers the same 30 years as the title chain and runs up to the current month. Each mortgage shown on it should have a matching release or discharge entry. The EC records only registered documents, so a court case, an unregistered agreement or an unpaid tax bill will not appear on it.
3. Agreement for sale and the sale deed
Ownership passes only through a sale deed that is stamped and registered at the sub-registrar's office. Before that, the agreement for sale fixes the price, the payment stages, the possession date and what happens if either side defaults. In a project registered under RERA, the builder may collect more than 10% of the price only after a registered agreement for sale is in place.
Read the schedule of the property in the agreement against the title deeds and the approved plan. For a flat, check the carpet area, the undivided share of land and the car parking space described. Stamp duty in Karnataka on a home above Rs. 45 Lakhs works out to about 5.6% with cess and surcharge, and registration is 2%.
The building and the civic record
A clear title does not make a building lawful. The next three checks confirm that what has been built matches what was approved and that the property is on the civic tax record.
4. Sanctioned building plan and layout approval
Every building needs a plan sanctioned by the competent authority: the city corporation within Greater Bengaluru, or the planning authority for the area outside it. Compare the sanctioned plan with the actual building for the number of floors, the number of flats per floor, the setbacks and the parking area. An extra floor or a flat added beyond the plan has no approval, however good the seller's title is.
For a plot, the equivalent papers are the land conversion order and the layout plan approved by the planning authority, with the site number and dimensions as sold. A project under construction should also be registered with Karnataka RERA, and the plan uploaded there should match the one shown at the sales office.
5. Occupancy and completion certificates
The occupancy certificate (OC) is issued by the plan-sanctioning authority after it inspects the finished building against the sanctioned plan. It confirms that the building is fit to occupy. Permanent electricity and water connections for a new building depend on it, and so does a smooth resale later.
Ask for the OC by its number and date, and check that it covers the tower and floor being bought, because large projects receive it in parts. For an older resale flat built before the rule was enforced strictly, ask the lawyer how the missing certificate affects the loan and the khata. A possession letter from the builder is a different document and does not replace the OC.
6. Property tax receipts and the e-khata
Property tax is paid every year to the city corporation or the local body, and unpaid tax stays with the property after a sale. Ask for the receipts of the last few years and the latest one for the current year. The owner's name, the built-up area and the usage on the receipt should match the deeds.
Within the city corporations a final e-khata is needed to register a sale. The khata is a tax record and not a title document, yet it shows whether the property is on the A register or the B register. Banks lend freely on A khata property and mostly decline B khata property, so check this before paying an advance.
Other people's rights in the property
The last four checks look for anyone other than the seller who may have a claim: a tenant, a landowner, a litigant or a neighbour.
7. Tenancy and lease papers
A sale does not end an existing tenancy. Under the Transfer of Property Act, the buyer steps into the seller's place as landlord, and the tenant keeps the rights the lease gives. Ask for a copy of every rental or lease agreement, the deposit held and the rent paid to date.
A lease for more than one year has to be registered, and a registered lease will show on the EC. The sale agreement should state whether the home is handed over vacant or with the tenant. It should also say who refunds the security deposit.
8. Joint development agreement
Many Bangalore projects are built under a joint development agreement (JDA), where the landowner gives the land and the builder constructs. The flats are then divided between them under a sharing or allocation agreement. A buyer should confirm that the flat being sold falls in the share of the party who is selling it.
Check that the JDA and the power of attorney given to the builder are registered and still in force. Under RERA, a landowner who sells flats from a share is also treated as a promoter of the project. The agreement for sale should therefore be signed by, or on behalf of, everyone who has title to the land.
9. Litigation and court orders
A property bought while a suit over it is pending is bound by the result of that suit. This is the rule of lis pendens in section 52 of the Transfer of Property Act, and it applies even when the buyer did not know of the case. The EC will not show a pending suit, so a separate search is needed.
Search the eCourts portal by the names of the seller and the earlier owners, and check the Karnataka RERA portal for complaints against the project. Ask the seller for a written declaration that no suit, acquisition notice or attachment is pending. A search of the CERSAI registry shows whether the property is already mortgaged to a lender.
10. Survey and boundaries
The property on the ground should match the property on paper. For a plot or an independent house, a licensed surveyor measures the site and compares it with the sale deed schedule, the survey sketch and the approved layout plan. Differences in extent, a road shown only on paper or a neighbour's wall inside the boundary are settled before registration.
For a flat, the equivalent check is the carpet area against the agreement and the undivided share against the land extent in the title deeds. Lakes, storm water drains and high-tension lines near the site bring buffer rules of their own. A visit with the approved plan in hand answers most of these questions in an hour.
How the checks fit together
The same facts should repeat across all ten sets of papers: the owner's name, the survey or site number, the extent and the boundaries. A mismatch between two documents is the most common early sign of a problem. It is also the easiest one for a buyer to spot before the lawyer does.
Get the lawyer's opinion in writing before paying more than a token amount, and keep the token refundable if the title fails. Work out the loan and the upfront cash on the EMI calculator at the same stage, because the bank's own legal and technical check follows. Buyers living abroad will find the rules that apply to them on our NRI page, and our team is available through the contact page for help with a specific project.
