What is an encumbrance certificate?

It is one of the mandatory documents used in-house property transactions. This is the evidence of the fact that the property referred has a free title or ownership. While purchasing a house, it is very important to verify whether the property is free from legal or monetary liability. This certificate ensures that a person has a complete ownership of the property.

Why is it important to get encumbrance certificate?

This certificate is important to those who want to obtain loans against their house properties or buy or sell a house property. It not only confirms the legal title of the owner over the property, but it also makes one eligible to obtain loans or advances from banks or any financial institutions against the property.

How to obtain a encumbrance certificate?

The certificate can be obtained from the sub-registrar’s office where the property in reference is registered. To obtain an encumbrance certificate, one has to follow these procedures :

1. An application is to be made to the registrar for obtaining the certificate in Form 22. This form is available on the official land registration site of the respective states.
2. This application will be accompanied with Rs. 2 stamp paper , an attested copy of the address proof , purpose of the certificate required for and details of the property and its title.
3. A person has to also pay a prescribed fees along with the application.
4. After the application is filed, an inspector will inspect all the transactions happened against the property in a particular period.
5. After the inspection, sub-registrar will issue an encumbrance certificate in Form no. 15 with all the transactions in a specified period . Also, if there is no transactions happened, a NIL encumbrance certificate in Form no. 16 will  be issued.
6. The issuance of certificate usually takes 15-30 days from the date of application.
7. The requisite fees for the certificate starts with Rs. 100 and goes up based on the number of years one needs the encumbrance certificate for . Also, the fees varies from state to state rules and regulation.
8. The certificate is issued in the regional language but also it may be obtained in english translation by paying an additional fee.
9. It is advised that a person should obtain both encumbrance certificate and a possession certificate as a proof of ownership of the property.

Format for Application to be filed to apply for an encumbrance certificate