Property Registration in Gurgaon

Property registration in India is governed by more than a hundred laws framed in the
19th century during the time of the British Raj. Some amendments have been made from
time to time but a major sea change of amendments is needed to keep pace with the 21st
century.

Deficiencies in the legislation and certain legal loopholes in the Acts have prevented the
state’s acquiring of vacant land and to rid the gross misuse of property transfer, without
proper registration formalities, by the use of Agreement to Sell and Power of Attorney.
Most of the methods to avoid registration are basically to avoid payment of high Stamp
Duty as India has one of the highest Stamp Duties in the world.

A person should have some basic knowledge of the Acts and the documentation involved
when registering a property. This knowledge is helpful as he becomes aware of the time
necessary for process, the fees that would be charged and the officials who deal with
these tasks.

The laws that are important for property registration are:

1. The Registration Act, 1908: This Act describes the formalities for registering
instruments. It ensures the conservation of evidence, assurances title, and
publication of documents and prevention of fraud. The instruments that must
be registered are:
2. Instruments of gifts of immovable property.
3. other non-testamentary instruments (those not detailed in wills) which pertain
to or operate to create, declare, assign, limit or extinguish, whether in present or in
future, any right, title or interest, whether vested or contingent, to or in
immovable property.
4. non-testamentary instruments which acknowledge the receipt or payment of
any consideration on account of instruments listed above.
5. leases of immovable property from year to year, or for any term exceeding one
year, or reserving a yearly rent
6. sales, mortgages (other than by way of deposit of title deeds) and exchanges of
immovable property by virtue of the Transfer of Property Act.

All the above documents have to be in writing.

1. Section 17 of The Registration Act:

2. It provides for optional registration.
3. Even if a property is not registered, it will not be null and void.
4. An unregistered document cannot be considered as evidence in a court of law,
under the provision of Section 49 of the Registration Act,
5. Unregistered documents can be used as evidence of a contract in a law suit of
specific performance or part-performance under the Transfer of Property Act or
as collateral
6. An unregistered document is not admissible as evidence in a court of law except
as secondary evidence under the Indian Evidence Act.
 7. Urban Land (Ceiling And Regulation) Act (ULCRA), 1976
8. This legislation fixes a ceiling on the vacant urban land that a 'person' in urban
agglomerations can acquire and hold.
9. A person is defined to include an individual, a family, a firm, a company, or an
association or body of individuals, whether incorporated or not.
10. This ceiling limit ranges from 500-2,000 square meters (sq. m).
11. Excess vacant land is either to be surrendered to the Competent Authority
appointed under the Act for a small compensation, or to be developed by its
holder only for specified purposes.
12. The Act provides for appropriate documents to show that the provisions of this
Act do not attract penalty and that documents should be produced to the
Registering officer before registering instruments compulsorily registrable under
the Registration Act.
13. The Repeal: ULCRA 1974 was repealed by the Centre in 1999 and was called
The Repeal Act. The following are its salient points:
14. It has eliminated the large amount of litigation and released huge chunks of
land into the market.
15. It shall not affect the vesting of the vacant land, which has already been taken
possession by the State Government or any person duly authorised by the State
Government in this regard under the provisions of ULCRA.
16. Initially the Repeal Act was applicable in Haryana, Punjab and all the Union
Territories
17. Subsequently, it has been adopted by the State Governments of Uttar Pradesh,
Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Andhra Pradesh, Assam,
Bihar, Maharashtra
18. Stamp Duty

There is a direct link between Registration Act and Stamp Act.

1. Stamp Duty needs to be paid on all documents which are registered and the rate
varies from state to state.
2. India has perhaps one of the highest levels of Stamp Duty unlike that levied in
most developed markets which is in the range of 1-2 per cent
3. Some states in India even have double stamp incidence, first on land and then on
its development.
4. The National Housing and Habitat Policy, 1998 has recommended a Stamp
Duty rate of 2-3 % be applied uniformly.
5. .Rent Control Act

Rent legislation in India has been in existence for a very long time

1. Rent control by the government initially came as a temporary measure to protect

the exploitation of tenants by landlords after the Second World War.
2. However the Rent Control Act became almost a permanent feature.
3. Rent legislation assures a reasonable rent to be paid by the tenant and the
protection of tenants against eviction.
4. Property Tax
 5. This is a levy charged by the municipal authorities to maintain basic civic services
in the

city.

1. In India the property owners are liable for the payment of municipal taxes,
whereas in countries like the United Kingdom, the occupier is liable.
2. Generally, the property tax is levied on the basis of reasonable rent at which the
property might be let from year to year.
3. The reasonable rent can be actual rent if it is found to be fair and reasonable. In
the case of un-let properties, the rental value is estimated on the basis of letting
rates in the area.

After having paid attention to these Acts, let us find out how to register a property- a
house, a flat or land in one’s name.

Property registration in one’s name, after having made the purchase, seems a daunting
task. The sheer paper work and documentation formalities are frightening! But not to
worry! Help is at hand! One can take the help of real estate attorney from private firms
or a government attorney.

How does one find out about the attorneys? An all India list of of such legal eagles, is
available at the web site http://www.Indiahousing.com or one can look up the
registration and attorneys directory at the local revenue office.

All kinds of property registration is always done at the Sub Registrar’s office. This
office holds all records of previous property registration. Now let us take a look at what
formalities are involved in the registration of a house, shall we?
There are altogether six steps involved.

o Careful scrutiny: This important process may take up to a week and may
run up a cost of Rs.10,000/- The following details have to be carefully
gone through.
o Careful inspection of the location of the property in question.
o The legal ownership of the property in question, along with the date of
purchase of the title deed has to be verified.
o If the property one is dealing with, has been transferred to the present
owner, the legal authority of the transferee has to be checked.
o One should check if the property has clearance from urban land ceiling
authorities.
o One should examine that all dues, like water and electricity bills, and
property tax have been made till date.
o House Registration Agreement: For a nominal fee of Rs 100/-, house
registration agreement can be completed at the Local Stamp Duty Office.
A week may be needed to complete this formality.
o Preparation of Property Sale Deed: This involves:
o The help of authorized house registration attorney.
o The printing out of the final deed on a green paper.
o A Stamp Duty stamp is placed on the deed.
o A fee of 1% of the property value.
o A time span of a week.
o Final Registration:
o This is carried out at the office of the Sub Registrar of Assurances.
o The deed or house registry is stamped, executed and finally registered in
the presence of the selle , the buyer and two witnesses.
o The Stamp Duty involved is 5% of the market value of the property.
o It may take two days to complete.
o Submission of Documents: The process is as follows:
o The completed house registration document is submitted to the Reader of
the Sub Registrar of Assurances for examination.
o The documents are then submitted to the Sub Registrar along with a
payment of 1% of the transaction value or Rs 30,000/-, whichever is
less.
o Then the buyer takes possession from the seller, within thirty minutes of
the submission of the payment receipt.
o Mutation of The Title of The Property For this the buyer must:
o Apply to the local municipal authority, with all the necessary documents,
to get the title of the property concerned in his favour.
o The municipal body then issues a letter of mutation in favour of the
buyer.
o It also assigns a value for the payment of property tax.
o This completes all the formalities of the registration process.