Title Due Diligence Checklist for Immovable Property in India — Advocate's Guide

Indian conveyancing practice settled on the 30-year title chain as the minimum due diligence horizon because:

1. The Limitation Act 1963 prescribes 30 years for several categories of claims relating to immovable property (Article 65 — adverse possession; Article 110 — possessory suits).
2. The Indian Registration Act allows certified copies of documents over 30 years old to be obtained from the Sub-Registrar but original-document inspection becomes progressively harder.
3. Most claims that could disturb the title — undisclosed heirs, ancestral property partitions, gift conditions, dormant mortgages — typically surface within 30 years.

When to go longer than 30 years:

• Ancestral / inherited property — go back to the original acquisition. The chain matters more than the duration. Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) properties especially require multi-generational verification.
• Land under any of the State Land Reforms Acts — go back to the date of the relevant ceiling notification (typically 1960s-70s) and verify all transfers since.
• Properties with prior agricultural use — verify the land conversion (NA conversion under the relevant state Land Revenue Code).
• Coastal Regulation Zone areas — verify CRZ applicability since the 1991 notification onwards.
• Tribal land (Schedule V / VI areas) — go to the original tribal allottee.

What to do with the chain:

• Trace each transfer document — sale deed, gift deed, will, partition deed, conveyance, succession certificate.
• For each: verify the transferor's title at the time of transfer (i.e. recursive due diligence).
• For each: verify proper stamping and registration.
• For each: verify no challenge to the document is pending or completed.

The Encumbrance Certificate is obtained from the Sub-Registrar's office (or its online portal — Karnataka's Kaveri Online, Maharashtra's eSearch, Tamil Nadu's TNRD eGov, Telangana's MeeBhoomi, etc.). It shows registered transactions affecting the property over the period requested.

What to ask for:

• An EC for at least the last 30 years (some advocates ask for from 1970 onwards). State portals typically allow 15-20 year ECs in one request; for longer, file multiple.
• Both Form 15 (with details of registered transactions) and Form 16 (NIL certificate — confirms no transactions, useful for newly-mutated parcels).

What to scrutinize on the EC:

1. Sale deeds — should match the title chain documents provided by the seller. Any sale deed in the EC that doesn't appear in the title chain is a major red flag.
2. Mortgage / charges — any unsatisfied mortgage shown? Many ECs show old housing-loan mortgages where the satisfaction was never registered. Get satisfaction proof from the bank or insist on bank-issued no-dues certificate + a fresh mortgage deed of release.
3. Lis pendens / attachments — any pending court orders attaching the property? An attachment under CPC Order XXI Rule 54 (execution) or Order XXXVIII Rule 5 (interim) on the EC is a stop-sign.
4. Gift deeds with conditions — if a prior owner received the property as a gift with a 'right of life enjoyment' or 'maintenance' condition, verify the condition is no longer live.
5. Wills — wills that are probated and registered may appear on the EC. Verify the probate and check no caveat is pending.
6. Partition deeds — verify the partition is consistent with the share being sold.

Important: the EC shows only registered transactions. Many encumbrances are unregistered — bank loans where the mortgage was a deposit of title deeds (equitable mortgage), unregistered family settlements, tenancy under state tenancy laws. EC alone is insufficient; cross-verify with mutation records, litigation searches, and the seller's express declarations.

Mutation records:

• Mutation is the entry in revenue records showing the current owner. Different states use different documents — Karnataka uses Khata (A khata vs B khata) and RTC (Records of Rights, Tenancy and Crops) extracts; Maharashtra uses 7/12 utara (for agricultural) and Mutation Register entries (for urban); Tamil Nadu uses Patta and Chitta; UP uses Khatauni.
• Verify the latest mutation extract stands in the name of the seller.
• Check for co-owners — if the mutation shows multiple names (e.g. siblings post-inheritance), all must execute the sale or release their share via registered release deed.
• Check encumbrances in revenue records — Maharashtra 7/12 mentions encumbrances in 'Other Rights' column.

Revenue and tax dues:

• Property tax up-to-date — get the latest receipt and verify the holding period matches the title.
• Water charges, electricity dues, society maintenance — get NOC from each. Unpaid dues become the new buyer's problem.
• Income-tax certificate under Section 281 of the IT Act 1961 — required where the seller is in any IT proceedings (search/seizure), to confirm no IT charge attaches to the property.

Litigation searches:

• Search at the District Court of the property's situs — case lists are now online via eCourts (services.ecourts.gov.in).
• High Court — verify no writ petition affecting the property is pending.
• Specific tribunals — DRT for SARFAESI-affected mortgaged properties; RERA for real-estate projects; NCLT for properties of corporate borrowers in CIRP; TAUC / consumer courts for builder disputes.
• Cause-list scan — for the seller's name across the major court databases.

Public notice search:

• Newspaper public notices — most advocates publish a public notice in two daily newspapers (one English, one regional) inviting objections. 30 days of no objections gives a defensible position.
• Government Gazette searches — for any pending acquisition / requisition / lis pendens notifications.

For purchase of an apartment or unit in a RERA-registered project, additional due diligence is required:

1. RERA registration certificate — download from the State RERA portal. Verify project ID, validity, promoter name, total units, area, possession date.
2. Sanctioned building plan — match the unit being sold against the sanctioned plan. Carpet area, common amenities, parking allotment.
3. Occupancy Certificate (OC) — mandatory under the Building Bye-Laws for the project. Without OC, the conveyance is technically not lawful and possession is not validly tenderable.
4. Society / Apartment Owners' Association (AOA) status — for resale, get a no-dues certificate from the society / AOA covering all maintenance dues, sinking fund, special levies. Also obtain the share certificate / membership letter that will be transferred.
5. Conveyance deed status — has the project land been conveyed to the society / AOA? If not, the unit purchaser is a tenant in common rather than an outright owner of the proportionate undivided interest in the land — a material defect under most state apartment ownership laws.
6. Common areas certified plans — particularly relevant in Karnataka under the Karnataka Apartment Ownership Act and in Maharashtra under MOFA (Maharashtra Ownership Flats Act).
7. HSF (Housing Society Federation) / RWA records — verify the unit is on the records and no special levies are pending.
8. NOC from association — many projects require AOA NOC for sale of any unit. Even where not legally mandatory, securing one heads off post-sale disputes.

For resale of apartments in older (pre-RERA) projects:

• Verify the sanctioned plan and OC (or equivalent — many cities issued 'Completion Certificate' before formal OC procedure).
• Verify the society's conveyance status under the relevant state's apartment ownership law.
• Verify share certificate / membership.
• Check for any redevelopment proposals that may affect title — most state laws give tenants/owners protected status during redevelopment, but the contract bundle may include redevelopment-consent obligations.

Title work uncovers a hundred things; most are fixable. These are the ones that aren't:

1. Pending acquisition proceedings under the Land Acquisition Act / state special legislation — once a notification is issued, title is effectively frozen. Walk away.
2. Tribal land or Schedule V land where the seller is not a tribal — most such transfers are voidable; the State has powers under tribal protection laws to recover. Walk away unless the conveyance is via a state-permitted route.
3. Lis pendens or attachment showing on the EC — title is encumbered; even if you win the eventual litigation, the cost is non-trivial. Insist on deep discount + indemnity by seller, or walk away.
4. Tenancy under state tenancy laws (Maharashtra Tenancy Act, Karnataka Land Reforms, etc.) — agricultural tenants have protected rights that survive sale. Walk away.
5. Property under SARFAESI sale by a bank — these are sold 'as is, where is' and the bank does not warrant title; even with title-search you may not see all defects. Be very cautious; engage a senior advocate for title-and-procedure verification.
6. CIRP-stage property of a corporate debtor under IBC — title can pass through the resolution plan or liquidation sale, but specific issues (RERA compliance, society NOC, etc.) often remain unresolved. Specialised work.
7. Coastal Regulation Zone violations — projects in CRZ-I or CRZ-II without proper clearance face perpetual enforcement risk. Walk away unless clearance is on record.
8. Forest land under the Forest Conservation Act 1980 / Indian Forest Act 1927 — title is effectively void; no purchaser ever cleanly takes possession.
9. Unsanctioned / unauthorised construction beyond the sanctioned plan — local body demolition risk; many states allow regularisation only of specific surplus, often only on payment of substantial fees.
10. 'Power of attorney sale' instead of registered sale deed — post-Suraj Lamp (Supreme Court 2012), POA sales of immovable property are not effective conveyance. Insist on a proper registered sale deed; if the seller refuses, walk away.

The advocate's role is not just to do the search and report findings — it's to translate findings into a clear go / no-go / discount-and-indemnify recommendation. Title due diligence reports that just list facts without recommendations leave the buyer in the same position as before.