In our experience the majority of property litigation is traceable to a diligence step that was skipped, abbreviated or taken on trust before payment was made. The checks involved are neither novel nor expensive relative to the value at stake.

Trace the chain, not just the last deed

A registered sale deed in the seller's name establishes far less than buyers assume. What matters is the chain of title over a meaningful period, together with mutation entries and revenue records that corroborate it.

Gaps in that chain - an unregistered transfer, an inheritance never formalised, a partition never recorded - tend to surface as competing claims once the property has commercial value.

Check encumbrances and permitted use separately

A search for mortgages, attachments and pending litigation is a separate exercise from confirming land use, zoning and applicable development permissions. A clean title over land that cannot lawfully be used as intended is still a failed transaction.

For agricultural land in particular, restrictions on purchaser eligibility and conversion requirements need to be confirmed before, not after, an agreement is signed.

Agreements should deal with failure, not only completion

Well-drafted agreements to sell address what happens if approvals do not come through, if possession is delayed, or if a defect in title emerges after part payment. Documents that describe only the successful path leave the parties to argue about everything else.

Where a project is registered under real estate regulation, the statutory position on delay and refund should be reflected accurately rather than contradicted by the contract.

This note is general information on the law and not advice on any specific matter. Please speak to us before acting on it.