List of documents required in a Joint Development Agreement for Title Due‑Diligence in Bengaluru

Joint Development Agreement: Roles of a Landowner and a Developer

• Joint Development Agreement has emerged as a popular model wherein the landowner and developer combine their resources and efforts to bring out the maximum productive result. For real estate development, huge investment is required in land acquisition, obtaining necessary sanctions (conversion, change of land-use) & development approvals from stipulated regulatory authorities, project construction and finally the cost towards sales & marketing activities.
• Present is the age of collaborative sciences, where the resources of different agencies are collaborated and out together for harnessing the expertise of different agencies. In Joint Development Agreement, the landowner and developer combine their resources and efforts to bring out the maximum productive result.
• The landowner’s investment is limited to clear-titled, marketable land suitable for development (no additional capital investment is required) while the developer comes with the expertise in development approvals, design and construction, finance, and marketing of the project. A landowner’s involvement in the Joint Development Agreement transaction is majorly prior to signing the Joint Development Agreement. To expedite the entire process, it is imperative for the landowner to understand the development potential of the land and assure title due diligence.
• Prior to registering a JDA, the potential developer partner will verify the title documents pertaining to the property. The developer will either conduct an in-house due diligence or appoint a third party or a combination of both to conduct a due diligence.
• The basic documents required to conduct a title due diligence include (i) ownership documents – sale deed, RTC documents, Mutation Register, (ii) Revenue Documents (iii) Survey documents – Tippani, Atlas, Village Map and (iv) Endorsements if applicable, (v) Up to date Encumbrance Certificate and tax paid receipts.
• Below is the list of preliminary documents necessary for a title due diligence. The below list is an indicative list and varies based on location, property jurisdiction, and method of acquisition.

List of documents required for title due diligence:

• Ownership Documents: These documents testify the ownership of the land.
  • Sale Deed, Partition Deed, Gift Deed – through which the landowner has or claims title to the property with the name, extent offered and the survey number.
• Revenue Documents: Revenue documents are issued by the Revenue Department and provide details of the extent, survey numbers, current and previous ownership detials, kharab, zoning, as well as the history of transactions pertaining to the subject land parcel.
  • Records of Rights, Tenancy and Crops (RTC): This document includes the ownership, measurement of land, extent of Kharab, nature of possession, type of land, encumbrance, if any.
  • Index of Lands and RoR: This document includes property details, owners of the property along with the nature of the possession.
  • Mutation Record: This document indicates the changes in RTC. Details about past owners / sellers are captured in this document.
  • Conversion Order: A conversion order is issued by the District Commissioner – Revenue Department and it confirms conversion of land from Agricultural purposes to Non-agricultural purposes.
• Survey Documents: Survey documents are issued by the Survey Department and include the property sketch, survey numbers and it’s partitions, details of the approach road, exact address – village, taluk details and any man made of geographic constraints.
  • Tippani: A hand drawn property sketch indicating the measurements
  • Hissa Tippani: This is a survey record showing the sketch of the entire survey number, total extent of the survey number along with the bifurcated portions and names of the owners corresponding to each bifurcated survey number.
  • Atlas: It is a sketch of the property issued in respect of any survey number after its bifurcation from a parent survey number. It includes measurement of the survey number.
  • Kharab Utaaru: The document provides details of kharab and its classification – A Kharab or B Kharab.
  • Village Map: Village Map includes village boundaries, survey numbers, lake, drains, valleys, green zones, and temples. This document holds the highest precedence with reference to the presence of any geographical constraints in the property.
• Endorsements: These are required as applicable
  • Endorsement under the provision of Karanataka Land Reforms Act – Nil Tenancy: A hand drawn property sketch indicating the measurements.
  • Endorsements under the provisions of Prevention of Transfer of Certain Lands (PTCL) Act, 1978.
  • Endorsements regarding acquisition from BDA, KHB, KIADB, BMRDA, BMRCL, STRRPA, BIAAPA, and BMICPA
• Other Documents:
  • Encumbrance Certificate: EC is evidence of free title / possession of a property.
  • Discharge of Mortgages: In case of any past or existing mortgages, the details of the loan available and closure of the loans must be provided.
  • Details of Litigations: In case of any litigations, copy of the plaint, written statements, entire order sheet, compromise petition – if any, judgment, and decree to be provided.

The required documents to facilitate the title DD have to be sourced from multiple agencies. A few of documents are available online on the Government portals namely Bhoomi, Dishaank, and Pahani. However, significant documents are required to be sourced from the respective departments. The process of title due diligence is time intensive and based on the availability of the documents the estimated time to complete the process ranges between 3 and 6 months. The list covers the basic documents essential for the due diligence and timely procurement of the documents can help reduce overall transaction time.

Meraqi’s Landowner’s Guide is a must read for a landowner evaluating partnership for a residential (apartment, villa, and plotted development project) and commercial (office) in Bengaluru on a Joint development Agreement (JD) basis. It is a comprehensive guide and includes all the pertinent clauses with regards to a Joint development Agreement. This document will facilitate the landowners from the inception in taking the decision, evaluating developer partners, structuring the transaction until project completion.