Encumbrance & Case Checks

What this covers

An encumbrance is any right or claim on the land besides the owner’s: a mortgage, a registered agreement to sell, a lease, a charge, or a court order. A case check is a search for litigation affecting the property. Together they answer the question the seller’s own file will not: is anyone else entitled to this land, and is it under dispute?

Mortgages and charges

Land pledged to a bank or lender carries a charge that follows the land, not the owner. If you buy mortgaged land without clearing it, the lender’s claim is now your problem. We search the sub-registry and, where relevant, check for enforcement under the Artha Rin Adalat Ain 2003.

Cases and injunctions

We check whether the land is the subject of a title suit, a partition suit, a pre-emption case or an injunction. Buying land already in litigation, or under an order restraining transfer, can make your purchase worthless or void, however good the deed looks.

What we search

• Sub-registry records for registered mortgages, agreements and charges
• Court records for title, partition, pre-emption and other suits
• Any injunction or order restraining transfer
• The land office record for competing mutation claims
• The seller’s disclosed loans or agreements, tested against the record

How long it takes

An encumbrance and case search usually takes several days to a couple of weeks. Where the land sits across more than one office or court, or the seller’s history is complicated, it takes longer. It is time well spent: an encumbrance found before purchase is a negotiation point; one found after is a lawsuit.