What If You Lose Your Original Property Papers?

How to obtain duplicate papers?

When you misplace such important documents, the first and foremost step is to file a police complaint. "The owner should file an FIR stating that the documents have been lost, misplaced or stolen, and get a copy of the complaint. If the house is mortgaged and the documents have been misplaced by the bank, the FIR will still have to be filed by you," said Vinod Sampat, Mumbai-based real estate lawyer and president of the Cooperative Housing Societies Residents and Users Association. However, if you are a buyer then it is your right to ask the seller to provide you a copy of the FIR.

Moreover, the home owner has to put up an advertisement in daily newspapers including English and regional, stating the loss of the original documents. "Even the buyer can place such an advertisement and, through it, call for any claimant to the property within 15 days of the advertisement being printed," said Ravi Goenka, a high court advocate at Goenka Law Associates.

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