Among the numerous documents that you need to submit while planning to buy a property, the ‘Encumbrance Certificate (EC)’ is one of the most important ones. Therefore make sure you don’t miss out on an Encumbrance Certificate of the specific property.
What is an Encumbrance Certificate?
In simple terminology, an encumbrance refers to any charge created on any asset. The term is common in real estate matters. When anyone produces or submits an Encumbrance Certificate (EC), he or she is submitting a certificate of assurance that proves that the property in question is free from any legal or monetary liability like a mortgage or an uncleared loan.
When a homebuyer obtains an EC, he not only secures his legal title over the property but also becomes eligible for loans from most banks and financial institutions for or against the property.
How to obtain an EC?
You can get an EC at the sub-registrar’s office in which the property is gets registered.
Here are some points that you need to consider to ascertain the transactions that have taken place concerning a property-
•You have to submit an application to the registration office for an EC, along with an attested copy of the proof address, details about the property, its title details, and the fee applicable for obtaining the certificate.
• Once you make the application, the officer will inspect the Indexes for the details in the specified period.
• The office will issue an Encumbrance Certificate with the details of the transactions in the specified period, or if there are no transactions, a Nil Encumbrance Certificate (NEC).
• Normally the certificate is issued 15-30 days from the date of application.
• You can find out about the forms of the applications and also the required documents specified in the annexures to the rules of the Registrations Acts of the respective states. Usually, an application is submitted in Form No. 22 and the EC in Form No. 15, NEC in Form No. 16 of the state rules.
What is the EC about
The EC reflects all the transactions relating to the property that have been recorded by the Registrar in detail.
The Encumbrance Certificate is usually related to a specific period and considers transactions relevant to that period alone. The EC will also reflect only those transactions and documents that got registered with the office.
Completion and Occupancy Certificates
An EC is distinguished further with a Completion Certificate (CC) or Occupancy Certificate (OC). The builder or developer can get a CC issued by the local authority only on the completion of the construction of a building in compliance with the building plan and other regulations. The CC, or an OC or a possession certificate issued by local municipal authorities is a declaration of no objection in allowing the occupancy of the building. Hence it is essential to check that the builder or developer has been issued a CC and OC before making a property deal.
