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Real Estate & Property

Property Due Diligence

Know what you are buying before the price is agreed, not after the sale deed is registered.

The Problem

What Is at Stake

A property purchase is usually priced on what the seller shows you. Due diligence is about what the seller does not show you: a missing link in the title chain, a partition claim by a family member, a mortgage that was never released, land recorded as assigned or prohibited, or a layout that was never approved.

Each of these can usually be resolved before completion, often at the seller’s cost. After completion, the same problem becomes the buyer’s, and the remedies are slower, more expensive and less certain. For a business acquiring land for a factory, a warehouse or a development, a title defect can also hold up finance, approvals and construction.

Online land records in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have made basic checks easier, but they record what has been entered, not whether it is right. A proper title search reads the records against the documents, and the documents against each other.

Scope

Matters We Advise On

  1. Title investigation and review of the ownership chain
  2. Encumbrance certificate and registration record review
  3. Land-record checks on Telangana and Andhra Pradesh systems
  4. Land classification, conversion and prohibited-land checks
  5. Layout, building and development approvals
  6. Searches for pending court cases and attachments
  7. Powers of attorney and family arrangements in the chain
  8. Title report with risks ranked and conditions for completion

Approach

How We Approach It

  1. 01

    Scope the search

    Agree the period, documents and records to cover, based on the type of property and how it will be used.

  2. 02

    Read documents against records

    Compare each deed in the chain with registration records, land records and revenue entries, and note every mismatch.

  3. 03

    Rank the issues

    Separate defects that block the purchase from those that can be cured before completion and those that only affect price.

  4. 04

    Turn findings into protections

    Convert each issue into a condition, a seller obligation, an indemnity or a payment holdback in the agreement.

Key Considerations

What to Know Before You Act

Gaps in the chain of title

Unregistered family settlements, unprobated wills and powers of attorney used after the principal's death are common breaks in the chain. Each needs a specific cure before completion.

What an encumbrance certificate misses

An encumbrance certificate lists registered transactions on the property. It does not show unregistered agreements, mortgages created by deposit of title deeds, or claims pending in court.

Land classification

Government, assigned, endowment or ceiling-surplus land can carry restrictions on transfer. In Andhra Pradesh, the prohibited properties list under section 22A of the Registration Act should be checked before registration.

Approvals and layouts

Plots in unapproved layouts may need regularisation before building permission or bank finance is available. Confirm the approval status with the planning authority, such as HMDA or VMRDA.

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