What is chain of title in ownership of property ?

Usually, a property might be transacted and changed hands multiple times before. Therefore, Title verification not only includes checking and verifying the title of present owner but same for past owners also. A chain of title means the historical record of title of the property. For that purpose, inspection of the chain starts from the present owner and ends at its original owner of the property. All the documents starting from initial deed to the latest link deed must be scrutinized to understand and clear the chain of title.Let it be clear with an example; Suppose a property you are buying from existing owner “A”, which is bought from “B” through general power of attorney. And “B” purchased it from “C” through a sale deed, And “C” got this property by a way of gift deed from “D”. In this example, property was transferred four times and you need all four property documents for title verification which are called as link documents. In this case through search should be conducted till the initial owner of the property i.e. “D”.If the chain of title is complete then the clear title will delegate further proved. But if the continuity link is broken in between, it is a major red flag as there is a cloud on the title and it is not advisable to proceed with the transaction. Generally, people tend to rely on the documents provided by the seller but it is always advised to get the certified copies of all the link documents and deeds from the Sub-Registrar office/ local Government/Semi-Government/ Private authorities to know the legality of documents.