In the past, we have written in detail about the important documents that you cannot afford to miss while buying a home. But what if you misplace a document? Or let’s say your document is lost?
Considering the number of documents, we have to deal with these days, this is a real possibility. There have also been incidences where the bank has misplaced the property documents of customers.
In this post, let’s understand what you need to do if you lose any important document.
Step 1: Lodge a police complaint immediately
Once you have realised that the document is missing, file a police complaint without any delay. The police will register a first information report (FIR) stating that the property documents have been lost, stolen, or misplaced.
Take a copy of the FIR and keep it safe. To be more cautious, scan the FIR and save in your mail or make multiple copies.
Step 2: Issue a notice in a newspaper
After filing the FIR, you will need to publish an advertisement in an English daily newspaper and any regional newspaper about the loss of the property documents. Once done, you will have to wait for 15 days to see if anybody responds.
Step 3: Apply for a share certificate
Meanwhile, you can apply for a share certificate and a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the housing society.
After verifying the FIR, the authorised Resident Welfare Association (RWA) will issue you a share certificate and a NOC for you to do any transactions during that period. The RWAs usually charge for this service.
Step 4: Register with the notary
The next step is to make it legal. On a stamp paper, prepare an undertaking about the loss of the document along with the police complaint number and the text of the advertisement published in the newspaper. Then get it attested and registered with the notary to make the undertaking legal.
Step 5: Get the certified copy of the original Sale Deed
The last step is to get a duplicate copy of the Sale Deed.
Submit an application for the same along with the Form 22. With the application, submit your identity proof, copies of the police complaint, and the advertisement, the share certificate obtained from the RWA, and the undertaking by the notary in the sub-registrar’s office.
Also, submit documents proving that you own the property.
After you pay the fees, you will get a duplicate copy of the Sale Deed.
Even after getting the duplicate copy of the Sale Deed, keep the FIR and other documents safely.
If the bank misplaces documents
If the bank loses your documents, follow the same process. In addition, submit a written request to the bank about the same and keep a copy of it. Since it is the bank’s mistake, you can also claim compensation for your loss.
