Which are the secondry documents of title related to property transaction?

•  Building plan sanction

In case of apartments and individual houses, you need to have a Building Plan Sanction issued by the BBMP, BDA or the village panchayat for properties under their jurisdiction.

For vacant sites in layouts, you need to check for the layout plan sanction, issued by the plan-sanctioning authority. For builder-developed independent homes, apart from the layout plan sanction, you need to have building plan sanction from the BBMP or village Panchayat, under whose jurisdiction the property falls.

•    Khata

The Khata certificate is issued by the BBMP, the BDA or a village panchayat in the name of the present owner or owners. There is no specific mention of the term Khata in the Karnataka Municipal Corporation Act of 1976; this is only an assessment register which compiles all the details of each property in the city. The term Khata is a colloquial term and literally means an ‘account’. Thus, the Khata is an account of every person who owns a property in the city. Each property will have a Khata. Each Khata has two parts: the Khata certificate and the Khata extract.

a.    Khata certificate

A Khata certificate is obtained for the registration of any new property after paying the registration fee. This certificate mentions that a particular property number ‘N’ is held in the name of person ‘X’. This certificate is required for applying for a water connection, electricity connection, trade licence and building licence. The Khata certificate is given by the BBMP only to the owner of the property or to his legal heirs, and is used for the purpose of paying taxes.

b.    Khata extract

A Khata extract is a document issued by the BBMP that states the name of the property owner, details of the property, such as plot size, built-up area etc. The owner can obtain this document on payment of `100/- along with a requisition letter to the Assistant Revenue Officer at the BBMP’s zonal office for the area where the property falls. Only owners can collect Khata extracts.

The Khata certificate and Khata extract are unofficially together called the ‘A Khata’.

•    The ‘B Khata’

In order to include unauthorised layouts, revenue sites and buildings constructed in violation of by-laws into the property tax net, a provision was made under the Section 108A of the Karnataka Municipal Council Act. Under the new provision, the BBMP could collect property tax from such properties. The details of the property tax collected from such a building or apartment or site are maintained in a separate register, called the B register.

•    Encumbrance certificate

The Encumbrance certificate (EC) is a record that shows all the registered transactions pertaining to a property in a particular time period. It is issued by the sub-registrar’s office under whose jurisdiction the property falls. ECs are issued via Form 15 or Form 16. If mortgage, sale or any other deeds with respect to a property are registered in the specified period of time, then Form No. 15 is issued with the details of each transaction. If there have been no registered transactions during the specified period of time, the sub-registrar will issue a Form 16. While buying a property, you should insist on an EC for a period of at least 30 years.

Though EC is helpful in ensuring a clear and marketable title for the property, it does not provide the complete picture. Certain documents/transactions need not be registered, and these are not shown in the EC. Such documents and transactions include unregistered wills, unregistered power of attorney, unregistered agreement of sale and unregistered mortgages. Apart from these, litigation in courts and tax liabilities are also not shown in ECs. So while buying a property, do not rely solely on ECs for a clear title and look at other secondary documents.

•    Commencement certificate

The Commencement or clearance certificate (CC) is given by the engineering department of the BBMP for the properties under construction in the city limits. Once the building licence is obtained and the foundation and peripheral columns have been constructed, the builder has to apply for the CC. Only after a CC is issued can a builder legally proceed to construct the complete building. Note that BBMP will not issue an OC on completion of the building, if the builder had not taken a CC at the beginning. See OC section below.

•    Occupancy certificate

The Occupancy certificate (OC) is obtained at the end of the construction and is proof of plan sanction compliance. Once the builder applies for the OC, BBMP is supposed to conduct an inspection to confirm that the construction is compliant with the sanctioned plan.

Note: Thousands of apartments in Bengaluru do not have OCs and yet are occupied. One reason for this is that re-sale of flats and buildings with no OCs is not barred. Enforcement of OC is weak.

•    Compounding fee receipt

If the construction varies from the sanctioned plan, this is an important receipt which shows that a compounding fee has been paid to the BBMP for regularising any deviation from the sanctioned building plan.

•    Conversion certificate

This Conversion certificate (popularly known as DC conversion certificate) is issued by the Deputy Commissioner. It certifies that the property has been converted from agricultural land to a residential property.

•    Tax paid receipts

These are receipts issued by the BBMP, BDA or village panchayat, recording the payment of taxes for the property.

•    PTCL endorsement

The buyer can ask the builder/seller to get a Prevention of Transfer of Certain Lands Act (PTCL) endorsement. Either the Tehsildar or DC can issue this document. This is to ascertain that the property is not on land granted to person/persons belonging to the SC/ST communities.

•    Land acquisition

The buyer can ask for an Endorsement from the Special Land Acquisition Officer of the BDA, BBMP, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB), Karnataka Housing Board (KHB), Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor Project and others, confirming that there are no acquisition proceedings underway with respect to the property being purchased.

•    Family tree

This document shows the genealogical tree in the form of a flow chart, with the names and age of the members of the family of the present and past owners of the property being sold. It also indicates whether the persons mentioned in it are living or dead; it is certified by the Village Accountant or the Revenue Inspector.

•    General power of attorney

A general power of attorney (GPA) is a notarised document which empowers another person to act as your legal representative. A GPA executed by a person living outside India should be notarised in the country of origin and stamped in India within four months of being notarised. Within India, it is enough if the GPA is notarised. GPA had to be registered earlier; however, the Supreme Court has ruled that it is sufficient if the GPA is authenticated by a notary public.

As a buyer, you need to ensure that the GPA is valid, not revoked and is provided by the person who has the legal right to give the same.