Property registration law under the Indian Registration Act.

By Abhay Shah, Realty Quarter

The law on document registration is provided in the Indian Registration Act. This Act offers for the registering of multiple papers, to guarantee retention of proof, fraud avoidance and title assurance.

Law of Registration Act:

According to Section 17 of the Registration Act 1908, all operations involving the sale of land that exceeds Rs100 should be registered. This implies that all sales of real estate transactions must be registered, as no real estate can be bought for Rs 100. Furthermore, all transactions in relation to gifts of a real estate and rentals of more than 12 months also require the registration.

When a party cannot reach the department of the Sub-Registrar in specific cases, the Sub-Registrar can place any of its representatives at its home to take documents for registration. The word ‘immovable property’ involves land, buildings and all rights associated with them.

Types of Documents required for Registration:

The registration of the property documents is to be made available to the office of the Sub-Registrar of Assurances, within whose jurisdiction the property, which is the subject matter of transfer, is situated. In order to register documents, the authorized signatories must attend the seller and the purchaser together with two witnesses.

The signatories should hold their proof of identity. The documents accepted for this purpose include Aadhaar Card, PAN Card or other governmental evidence of identification. If they represent someone else, the signatories must also grant the power of authority. If a company is subject to the agreement, the representative of the company must bring appropriate documents, like power of attorney/letter of authority, along with a copy of the resolution of the company’s board, authorizing him to carry out the registration.

Including original documents and evidence of payment of the stamp duty, you must also submit the property card to the sub-registrar. The Sub-Registrar shall check before registering the documents that the estate has paid adequately for the stamp duty, according to the stamp duty ready reckoner. The registrar shall refuse to register the documents if the stamp duty is inadequate.

Time-frame and Fine in case of any Delay:

The documents to be registered compulsorily should be submitted, along with the specified fee, within four months of the date of their execution.

In the event that time has expired you may apply for condonation to the Sub-registrar for the delay, within the next four months and by payment of a fine that may be 10 times the fee for original registration, the Registrar may approve to register such documents. Property documents are registered at a premium of 1 per cent of the property value, subject to a max of Rs 30,000.

In the past, after a span of six months, the documents submitted by you would be returned. However, the documents (including registry number and evidence that the documents are registered by the registrar) are scanned and returned on the same day in the case of computerization of the sub-registrar’s departments.

The consequence of non-registering any property:

If the purchase agreement for an estate is not registered, you may be at enormous risk. Evidence cannot be accepted by any court of law if a document that is mandatorily needed to be registered but is not registered.