What is Property Search?
It is title search of property, by which you come to conclusion that searched property is having clear and marketable title, free from any encumbrance.
In this report verification of title of property is conducted by checking and verifying property documents to ascertaining the legal ownership of property.Also verified that whether any defects and encumbrances in the title of the property are exist or not. After title verification is conducted by a report is generated called 'Abstract of Title' or 'Title Search Report' on the basis of above said verification.
What is to be checked in ownership details before purchasing any property ?
It is absolutely necessary to verify that the transferor is the real owner of the property and has clear and marketable right with respect to the property.This can be ensured by checking the original property-related documents and verifying if they correspond with public records held by the local, Government, Semi-Government, Private authorities.This includes every document evidencing the ownership and transfer of title such as sale deed, conveyance deed, gift deed, will documents, deed of partition etc. and if the sale is made by a person holding power of attorney, such power of attorney must be inspected carefully. It should also be checked and verified whether these documents are duly stamped and registered properly.
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.
How to verify that the owner has the right to transfer the property?
The right of the transferor in regard to ownership of property can be absolute or limited. Ownership is said to be absolute when possession, enjoyment, and disposal rights are vested in the owner without any restriction otherwise it is said to be limited. In order to execute a valid transfer, the absolute right to dispose of must be vested in the transferor.So while doing title verification it is pertinent to inspect the nature of the right of the transferor owner. This concludes that if the said property is transferable and the transferor has the absolute right to transfer the property. For this purpose Record of Rights and Mutation Records can be a promising source for verification and used to do so, wherein reflect the nature of the right of the transferor with respect to said property.
What is a period of search report?
Generally, a title search is conducted for a time period ranging from twelve to thirty years, which can be extended or reduced as per the objective of the party and the nature of the transaction.
