Title search and encumbrance certificate in India

What a title search looks at

Ask a property lawyer (advocate) to check, from the documents you receive:

1. The chain of title: each registered deed back from the seller to a documented origin, not only the last one. The seller must, on request, “produce to the buyer on his request for examination all documents of title” in the seller’s possession and “answer to the best of his information all relevant questions” about the title (Transfer of Property Act s. 55(1)(b), (c)).
2. Disclosure: the seller must tell you about any material defect in the property or in the title that you could not find with ordinary care (s. 55(1)(a)), and, unless the sale is subject to them, must discharge existing encumbrances (s. 55(1)(g)).
3. Registration of each deed: a document that must be registered but is not “shall not affect any immovable property comprised therein” (Registration Act s. 49). A missing registration in the chain is a gap.
4. The revenue or municipal record (see mutation of property records) and the property tax receipts.
5. Pending litigation: a property cannot be transferred “so as to affect the rights of any other party” under a decree in a suit in which the right to it is directly and specifically in question (Transfer of Property Act s. 52, lis pendens). A court-case search is separate from the EC.
6. Approvals: sanctioned plan, occupancy and completion certificate, and, for a society flat, the share certificate (resale flats).
7. For a promoter’s project: the project page on the state RERA portal, where the promoter must declare that the land is free from all encumbrances or give their details (s. 4(2)(l)(B)); see RERA registration check. The Act also makes the promoter liable to compensate allottees for loss caused by defective title of the land (s. 18(2)).

What an encumbrance certificate is

It lists the registered transactions in a period for a property, as the sub-registrar’s records show them: sales, mortgages registered, releases and similar. It is limited to what is recorded. The DoLR survey of two Karnataka villages found that 36 percent of the bank loans landowners reported appeared in the land record (RTC), and that court cases were noted in the record in just one percent of the cases found. That concerns the rural land record, not the EC, but it shows how records can lag behind reality: unregistered claims, loans and court cases may not show up, so do the other checks too.

The number of years is your choice when you apply; the fee grows with the period. A nil EC means no registered transaction was found for the period and property you named.

How to apply (examples by state)

Each state runs its own system. Steps differ, so use your state’s registration department portal.

• Puducherry: view the EC online by entering the period, revenue village, ward, block and survey number; then apply for the official copy, pay online, and download it once the Sub-Registrar approves.
• Kerala: in the online application, go to Applications (EC, CC), then Encumbrance Certificate; enter previous document details, property details and boundaries, the search period, calculate the fee and submit.
• Odisha: log in at the registration portal, choose Online Encumbrance Certificate, fill in the property details, pay through the treasury payment gateway; the application goes to the registration office, and the digitally signed EC is available to download.
• Karnataka: according to the DoLR evaluation, the EC can be searched by property number and name but not by document registration number, and the applicant can choose the year from which to start, with different workflows for periods before and after 2004.
• Gujarat: the Sub-Registrar offices can generate ECs and run e-searches (DoLR evaluation).
• Other states: look for “encumbrance certificate” on your state registration portal.

Which professional to consult

A property lawyer (advocate) enrolled with the State Bar Council does the title search; see property lawyers. A home loan lender will run its own legal check before it lends: see home loan lenders, but the lender’s check protects the lender.