Procedures to be followed in case of Loss of Property Documents
Property documents being the sole proof of ownership of a residential property is of utmost importance to the owner. Misplacement, loss or theft of property documents is a cause of grave concern for property owners. This is because no transaction can be carried out without the original sale deed. In such a scenario, the property owner should get a duplicate copy of the property document so that the original is not misused.
There are different procedures that need to be followed in the case of loss, theft or misplacement of property documents.
· Filing an FIR
A First Information Report (FIR) should be filed by the property owner with the police as soon as the loss of property documents is detected. It should clearly mention whether the property document was stolen, lost or misplaced. Based on the FIR filed, the police will be able to conduct a thorough investigation for tracing the missing property document.
· Advertising in the newspaper
After filing an FIR, the property owner should place an advertisement in a leading daily English newspaper as well as a vernacular newspaper stating the loss of property document. Following the publishing of an advertisement in the newspaper, the owner should wait for 15 days to see if the document is traced and returned to the owner.
· Preparing an undertaking
If there is no response with regards to tracing the missing property document even after 15 days from the date of publishing of the advertisement, then the owner should prepare an undertaking on a stamp paper mentioning about the loss of documents along with the details of the same. Besides, a copy of the published advertisement as well as the police complaint number should also be included. Further, the undertaking needs to be registered, attested and notarised.
· Obtaining a duplicate sale deed
After the undertaking has been prepared, the owner should obtain a duplicate of the property document from the registrar’s office where the property was registered at the time of its purchase. To obtain a duplicate property document, the owner will need to pay the requisite fee for the same. Besides, he will also need to submit certain other documents at the registrar’s office to authenticate his identity and ownership of the property.
· Misplacement by the bank
In case the property was mortgaged by the owner so as to obtain a bank loan and the documents were misplaced by the bank then the bank should notify the owner about the same so that the owner can take necessary action. However, in such a scenario, the bank must pay for the expenses involved in getting a duplicate document.
· Maintain proof of action taken
As a proof of the action taken by the owner to trace the lost property document, he should maintain a copy of the police complaint, the newspaper advertisement, the undertaking as well as the duplicate sale deed for future reference.
