Pay Attention To These 4 Legal Documents Before Selling Your Home

Selling one's home is quite different from selling other assets like stocks and gold. You need to know the legalities before selling your property in order to have a clean transaction. There have been several frauds in India regarding property sales and hence, you need to exercise caution.

Some of the legalities that you should bear in mind are discussed below:

1. Mutation of home

Apart from getting your home registered in your name and paying stamp duty, you must get the property mutated. The mutation of a property refers to the transfer of ownership title from the present owner to the buyer. It helps the revenue department of the state to charge the rightful owner house taxes. If the property in India you are selling is inherited or gifted, you need to have the sale deed, death certificate (in case of inheritance) and up-to-date property tax certificate. Unless the mutation is done for your home, you will not be able to sell your home at the price that you desire.

If the registration deeds are with the registrar, then you can use a copy of the deed along with a copy of the receipt given at the registrar's office for selling the property.

2. Clearance Certificate 

If you have bought the home on finance and are selling off the property prior to repaying it, you have to repay the amount before selling off the property. The loan can be foreclosed by the buyer, who will repay the loan on your behalf to the bank, post which the bank shall issue a clearance certificate. It is better to apply for a second loan at the same bank as they have the documents with them and would process the loan faster. However, processing fees and other charges have to be paid again as it would be a fresh application for the loan. Alternatively, if the buyer is paying for the house with cash, a seller can use the down payment to clear the outstanding loan prior to passing on the resale apartment in India.

3. Sanctioned Plan

The sanctioned plan is one of the most important documents that you should have with you while selling the apartment. There have been several instances where builders have made illegal construction violating the floor area ratio or FAR. The FAR for an area is decided by the housing board and varies from location to location. Therefore, having the sanctioned plan that indicates no illegal construction on your property will get you genuine buyers.

4. Power of Attorney

There have been several frauds on property for sale in India where sellers have used a Power of Attorney to sell a particular property. In 2011, the Supreme Court made it illegal to sell property via a general power of attorney. Proper mutation and registration deeds must be there with a seller in order to sell a property. If you have any power of attorneys made for the property, they must be destroyed prior to selling your home. You can talk to a lawyer to get the power of attorneys nullified.