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How to buy agricultural (farming) land in Andhra Pradesh (Hyderabad) http://www.registrationacts.in/PropertyPurchasePrecautions.

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Recently I have bought agricultural land for my natural farm I am going to plan. I have gone through many hassles, confusions etc and I want to pen down here so that it will help others folks who want to do the same. I am writing this in point wise so that it will be easier to understand 1. First I was searching for agricultural land and browsed many websites, googled about agricultural land. Called many folks over phone number I got from websites. Many folks promised that they are going to see the land and come back. Many folks said there is no land in my budget. Many said that you will have to go 100 KM from Hyderabad. My budget was 3-5 lacs per acres. 2. Finally I called this broker on this Shivratari and he said that a land is available in my budget. I and my family immediately followed him and saw the land (27KM from my flat). In the first look, I liked it. The location, place and surroundings was good. 3. I told the broker that I want to buy this land. We went to a local person and through him we talked with the owner of the land over phone (generally brokers doesn't allow to talk with the owner immediately but this broker was good enough). 4. We decided a place to meet nearby Patancheru, Hyderabad and immediately meet there. We came up with some negotiations. The price of the land was much more than my budget however the location and locality was good to I dared to buy this land. 5. We went to owner's house and got the original paper (Registration paper and pass book) xeroxed. 6. Came back to home and started taking suggestions from friends and colleagues. Many folks suggested to go for legal opinion, EC, get the bore well point before buying etc. 7. Got the measurement of the land done. I had insisted to bring a good person for the measurement and the broker said he will. He brought one old aged person who measured that land with Karis (iron chain) and told that land measurement is correct. I insisted for the map and plot numbers on the map. He took 2K for this, much more than told by the broker. 8. After few days he gave a map with length and width of the area on a waste paper, I was on top of the temper that measurement guys has not even spend a rupee to buy a good paper for this. I insisted for a good map with plot number written on it but till now I am waiting. People are cheaters here also, beware of them. The lesson learnt is do not give total amount unless your work is done! 9. I got the EC of the land. 10. I talked with Patwari of the village and he said ok for this land. They are so lazy that he even updated his record by seeing the xerox paper I had taken for this land. He took 200 rupee and was asking for 500, strange ! 11. After a lot of confusion about the plot number (survey number), I decided to get some opinion as suggested by many friends. 12. I went to a legal adviser (an advocate) who is known to one my family friend and he saw the paper and told to bring Khasra Pahani (the land record for last 50+ years). 13. It took me around a month to get the Khasra Pahani and couple of thousands of rupees.

14. Took the Khasra Pahani to the Advocate, this time he says that looks good but where is the village map, I showed him village map that I had got from broker. The map condition was pitiable, almost broken, teared from every corner. The advocate says "Even God can't tell where is the land on this map". I said what is the solution, the advocate said if you believe them, buy this land otherwise forget about it. If you have to buy this, first get the fencing done before agreement itself and then go for agreement. You all know that no land lord will allow to get the fencing done before agreement. 15. I called the broker and said the same thing; at this point I had made my mind and that I am not going to buy the land. 16. The broker called one fine day and ask me to come to MRO office to inquire about this land. I went there with half mind. Talked with Patwari there and many others who were available, got the map of the village and was trying to figure out where is the survey number for this land. As the map was not clearly visible, no one could tell where is the survey numbers. 17. The broker said that Tahshildar ( or I do not know the official name - the person who measure the land in that area) is out to another land and will come by 3 PM and I can talk with him. I waited for about 6 and was disappointed and was planning to come back. After few minutes this person came, I went to him and asked for the map and survey number on this map. 18. He showed me the map and survey numbers on the map, it was satisfying and I could convince that this land is genuine. I got the xerox of the map for my purpose and another local person along with me said give him 200 rupee but Tahshildar didn't take any money. Surprisingly the assistant of the Tahshildar came outside and was asking for money and I paid INR 100 too. 19. After verifying the EC, Khasra Pahani, Village Map, talking with the neighbors, Patwari I was satisfied and convinced about this land. 20. I decided to go ahead with this land. I asked for the agreement and we got it done. Paid the money through account payee cheques. The next step was fencing of this land, you can read more about fencing my farm land here. Huh! a long story about how to buy agricultural land. It was tiring experience, very confusing, frustrating, discouraging but ultimately got satisfaction for what I wanted to do. I hope this will help someone like me who wanted to buy agricultural land and was searching for help on how to go ahead with this. ================================================================================= The title of a property should be checked by the purchasers lawyer for the past 30 years. In recent times, some persons have developed property even on lands on dried out tank beds in Bangalore. Lay outs made on revenue land are also common. Encroachments into neighbouring lands and government lands are nothing short of land grabbing. To prevent all this, and to ensure that there are no claims by minors and by persons claiming adverse possession, the chain of title has to be well established. These documents are relevant for Karnataka and should be relevant for the entire country with slight changes.

SITES/HOUSES/AGRICULTURAL LAND: Original parent documents of title like sale deed, gift deed, partition deed, will, etc. 1. Notification by B.D.A. or KIADB for acquisition 2. Land use as per the Comprehensive Development Plan 3. Family tree of the seller 4. Katha 5. Encumbrance certificates 6. Tax paid receipt 7. Pahani and Mutation certificate for agricultural lands 8. Surveyors sketch 9. Sanctioned plan 10. Income tax clearance if the value shown in the agreement of sale exceeds Rs. 25 lakhs Great care should be taken to ensure that there are no prior agreement holders or pending litigation on the property. This is done by inserting advertisements in the local newspapers about the intention of the purchaser to purchase the property. It is advisable to pay the Ernest money in advance after the expiry of time mentioned in such an advertisement. Eliciting information from the neighbours is a useful and prudent procedure. ANCESTRAL PROPERTY: In ancestral property. i.e., the property of a Hindu United Family, the number of coparceners and their shares should be ascertained. Minors should be well represented and the monies due to them should be shown as paid to their share or to the head of the family for legal necessity. Daughters and their married status and the date of such marriage have to be ascertained as the law has been amended giving equal shares to daughters in an ancestral property. FLATS/ OFFICE FROM DEVELOPERS: In the case of purchase of flats from the builder, in addition to the documents mentioned above, the following documents are required. Title opinion prepared by the developers advocate Agreement between the builder and the land owner. Income tax permission if the value in the development agreement exceeds Rs. 25 lakhs. Power of Attorney given to the builder by the land owner. The completion and possession certificates The agreements to sell and the agreement to build the flat should be scrutinized by the purchasers advocate to see if it is a balanced and fair one. 7. Prior to registration, the guideline value to register the property should be ascertained. The Purchaser should buy the stamp paper of 12.5% of the value shown in the sale deed for property within corporation limits and 13.5% for agricultural property. An additional 2% should be paid as registration fee. First sale of flats by the builder have a concessional slab rate of stamp duty. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. A well drafted document and the payment of correct stamp duty thereon will secure a good and marketable title.

The content of this article does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied on in that way. Specific advice should be sought about your specific circumstances. Specific Questions relating to this article should be addressed directly to the author.

Property Purchase - Precautions


1. Check the antecedents of the vendor(s) -We all verify title deeds and all connected documents before buying the property. But we fail to verify the antecedents of the vendor(s) . It is better to verify the character and antecedents of the vendor(s) beforehand.If the vendor(s) are habitual offenders and involved in the real-estate offences or other crimes, then it is better to drop the idea of buying the property from them notwithstanding whether the title is perfect or not. If the vendor has good background; and his character and reputation are unquestionable, then the transaction will be very smooth. Even, in future, if there is any dispute regarding title or any other issue pertaining to the property, then you are dealing with a respectable person in the society; and you need not to spend your valuable money and time on unnecessary litigation. You are not facing any embarrassment in the shape of physical or verbal abuse. The issues can be resolved through gentlemen agreement without involving external forces.
Right of purchase Sale deed

Entries in revenue Inheritance records, and predecessors title Partition Gift Deed of partition Gift deed

Settlement Settlement deed Grant Release Mulgeni Grant order Release deed Deed of Mulgeni or permanent

2. Personal inspection of property under sale (site/building/flat/agricultural land) -Buyer beware is the golden mantra in the immovable property transactions. Therefore, the entire onus lies on the purchaser in verifying the title, ownership and possession of the property. He must take all reasonable steps to ensure that he is purchasing the property from a right person and also a right property. The most important precaution is undertaking a personal inspection of the property under the sale. During the personal inspection, the buyer shall inquire with the neighbours regarding the ownership and possession of the property, disputes if any, character of the vendor(s) , charges/mortgages on the property, joint owners of the property or part of the property etc. This is the most important aspect of the title verification, therefore, it is better at least three persons from buyer side shall take up this task. And they shall make discrete enquiries with various persons in and around the property like elders of the locality, longstanding property owners/tenants, workmen, etc. It is easy to undertake the inspection of site and building in the densely populated areas. It is also easy to enquire in villages where the people could identify persons by name. But it is difficult to

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enquire in the suburban, newly developing and agricultural lands converted as plots where no habitation exists. In these cases a lot of effort is required to get the right answers to the questions and at times we may not get answers at all since there would be no person to contact except the vendor or his men.

3. Sale by holder of power of attorney-If the sale documents are being executed by a person holding power of attorney on behalf of the owner, the said power of attorney should be scrutinised thoroughly. The person must not only possess the power to sell property, the power of attorney should also be validly executed. An agreement holder (as explained above) who also has a power of attorney to sell the land and/or building is normally a developer. Alternatively, a person may have paid the entire consideration to the owner and holds on to the property for some time to sell it at a later date for a profit. The sale will be effected by the power of attorney holder on behalf of the owner. Such power of attorney must be properly stamped and registered (if it is coupled with sale agreement/development agreement/given for consideration) . It should also not be revoked.

Buying Home/Land - Legal documents


Owning a house is an important thing in ones life. However, one needs to be careful while buying land/house to avoid falling into legal hassles. A lot of care is needed from the beginning- right from site seeing till the registration of the land. The legal status of the land is one of the first issues that you should address before confirming a property. Don't give any advance before getting confirmation about the legal status of the property. Before buying a land, a number of checks needs to be done to confirm that the land has a clear and marketable title. The first thing is to find out the tenure, legal right of the holder of the land in government records. The tenure or possession right could be freehold, leasehold or may be held under a government grant or 'sanad'. Freehold land is always most preferable. The seller should provide all the necessary documents to the buyer. Title deeds The first step is to see the title deed of the land which you are going to buy. Confirm whether the land is in the name of the seller and that the full right to sell the land lies with only him and no

other person. Don't be satisfied with the Xerox copy of the title deed. Insist on seeing the Original Deed. Sometimes the seller may have taken a loan by pledging the original deed. It also needs checking whether the seller has permitted any entry/access to others through this land and whether any other fact has been suppressed/left undisclosed by the owner of the land. It is better to get the original deed examined by a lawyer. Along with the title deed, the buyer can also demand to see the previous deeds of the land available with the seller. Tax receipt and bills Property taxes which are due to the government or municipality are a first charge on the property and, therefore, enquiries must next be made in government and municipal offices to ascertain whether all taxes have been paid up to date. The owner should also possess the latest tax paid receipts, which you may inspect. Enquiries should also be made in various departments of the municipality to ascertain whether any notices or requisitions relating to the property have been issued and are outstanding and not yet complied with. While inspecting the property tax receipt, it can be noted that there are two columns in the tax receipt. Make sure that the name entered in the owner's column is correct. The second column will be for the name of the one who paid the tax. Sometime the owner may not have the tax receipt with him, in such cases, contact the village office with the survey no. of the land and confirm the original owner of the land. If you are buying a house along with the property, then the house tax receipt should also be checked. Also ensure that the electricity and water bills are up-to-date and if there any is balance payment to be made, ensure that it is made by the seller. Encumbrance Certificate Before buying any land or house, it is important to confirm that the land does not have any legal dues. It is available as a certificate called encumbrance from the sub registrar office where the deed has been registered, stating that the said land does not have any legal dues and complaints. The encumbrance certificate for the past thirteen years should be taken or for more clarification, you could demand 30 years encumbrance certificate to be checked. If you still have anymore doubts, you can take a Possession Certificate of the ownership of the particular land, which is available from the village office. Pledged land Some people may have taken loan from the bank by pledging their land. Ensure that the seller has paid back all the amounts due. Don't get satisfied with the receipt of the payment made. A release certificate from the bank is necessary to release all the debts over the land legally. You could buy a land without the release certificate. But if you want to take a loan in future, the release certificate is a must. Measuring the land It is advisable to measure the land before registering the land in your name. Ensure that the measurements of the plot and its borders are accurate. You can do this with the help of a

recognized surveyor. This will avoid a lots of problems in the future. You could also take the Survey Sketch of the land from the Survey Department and compare for accuracy. More than one owner In some cases, the land will be owned by more than one people. So before registering, check if there is more than one owner, and if there is, get release certificate from the other people involved. Buying land from NRI land owners A person staying abroad can also sell his land in India by giving a Power of Attorney to a third person authorising him the right to sell the land on his behalf. But in such cases, the power of attorney should be witnessed and duly signed by an officer in the Indian embassy in his province. There is no legal support for Power of attorney signed by a notary public. Agreement Once all the matters, financial/otherwise are settled between the parties, it is better to give an advance and write an agreement. This ensures that the owner does not change his word regarding the cost as well as make a sale to someone else who offers more money. The agreement should be written in 50 Rs stamp paper. The agreement should state the actual cost, the advance amount, the time span within which the actual sale should take place and how to proceed in case of any default from either parties, to cover the loss. The agreement can be prepared by a lawyer and should be signed by both the parties and two witnesses. After signing the agreement if one of the parties make a default, the other party can take legal action against him. Registration The land can be registered in a sub registrar office, after preparing the title deed including all the relevant information. You could get the title deed written by a government licensed Document writer. Even lawyers can prepare the deed, but the document can only be computer printed or typed, not handwritten. Handwritten documents can be prepared by only those who hold the scribe license. A draft should be prepared before actually writing the document in stamp paper. Make sure all the details mentioned are accurate. If there is incorrectness in the document after registering, a secondary document with the correct details has to be registered and depending on the incorrectness, the registration expenses will be repeated. Make sure that the deed is registered within the time limit mentioned in the agreement. Original title deed, Previous deeds, Property/House Tax receipts, Torence Plan (optional) etc plus two witnesses are needed for registering the property. Torence plan is a detailed plan of the property prepared by a licensed Surveyor which will have accurate details of the measurements including width, length, borders etc. This plan is needed only in some specific areas. For land costing more

than five lakhs, the seller should submit either his Pan card or Form Number 16 during registration. The expenses involved during registration include Stamp Duty, registration fees, Document writers/ lawyers fees etc. The stamp duty will depend on the cost of the property and varies from Municipality to Corporation to Panchayat. In Panchayat the stamp duty will be 4% of the cost of the land whereas in Municipality it is 5% and in Corporation 6%. Two percentage will be charged as the registration fees. Document writers fees also depend on the cost of the property and varies with individuals. There is a percentage prescribed by the government as Document writers fee and they cannot charge more than the prescribed limit. After registration, the registered document will be received after 2-3 weeks, from the registrar office. Changing the title in Village office: The whole legal procedure of buying the property will be complete only if the new owners name is added in the village office records. An application can be made along with the copy of the registered deed to the Village office to get this done.

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