The title chain is the line of documents that connects the first recorded owner of a piece of land to the person who sells it to you. For a flat in a project, the line runs to the promoter, and often through landowners who gave their land under a joint development agreement. In most states a buyer sees this chain only when a lawyer assembles it. RERA Karnataka publishes an outline of it for every survey number under a project, in the promoter's own sworn words. This guide shows how to read that outline, what it tells you, and the Karnataka traps it points you towards.

Key takeaways

  • RERA Karnataka's land tab files, for each survey number, how the land was acquired, the deed with its parties and sub-registrar, any joint development agreement, the conversion order and the khata.
  • Most land under a project changed hands by purchase, but partition, inheritance, release, gift and grant all appear, and each needs its own papers; 253 land rows record land acquired by grant.
  • A joint development agreement sits on at least one survey number of 1,695 of the 3,772 projects that file land rows, as updated on 19 October 2026, so the landowners are often part of your chain.
  • The land tab is an outline, not a verdict on title: two thirds of civil cases in district courts relate to land and property, according to DAKSH's 2016 access to justice survey.

Why the chain matters more than any single paper

A title is only as good as its weakest link. If a sale fifteen years ago was made without one of the heirs signing, or a piece of granted land was sold without permission, every later transfer stands on that defect, however clean the latest deed looks. That is why lawyers trace a chain back 30 years, and why land disputes fill the courts: DAKSH's access to justice survey, released in April 2016, found that two thirds of civil cases in district courts related to land and property, and that 29 percent of all cases in its survey concerned property. How the same reasoning applies to a resale flat is in the chain of title for a resale flat.

What the land tab files for each survey number

  • Land type. Own land, land under a joint development agreement, or both.
  • How it was acquired. Purchase, sale, partition, inheritance, gift, release, will, grant or court order.
  • Owners. The number of owners of the survey number; 15,178 of 16,872 rows record a single owner.
  • The deed. Whether it was executed, its number and date, the sub-registrar's office, and the parties it was executed from and to.
  • Joint development agreement. Whether one is registered, its date and the sub-registrar.
  • Conversion and khata. The order that allowed non-agricultural use, and the local body's khata, both covered in RTC, khata and the encumbrance certificate.

How the land reached its current holders, across all 16,872 survey-number rows on the register:

How land under RERA Karnataka projects was acquired(survey-number rows)
Purchase or sale12,026
Joint land owner1,421
Partition1,135
Inheritance938
Gift638
Release265
Grant253
Will135
Court order61

Source: ReraGenie analysis of 16,872 survey-number rows on 3,772 RERA Karnataka registrations, as updated on 19 October 2026; the promoter's own description, grouped

Reading the chain, step by step

From the land tab to a lawyer's question list
  1. 1

    List the survey numbers

    Every one, sub-divisions included; 1,537 projects stand on one survey number and 369 on ten or more.

  2. 2

    Note how each was acquired

    Purchase needs the sale deed; partition, inheritance and release need every co-owner's signature; a grant needs the permission to sell.

  3. 3

    Read the deed's parties

    The deed should be executed from the earlier holders to the current one. Red flag: a current holder who is not the deed's recipient.

  4. 4

    Check for a joint development agreement

    If one exists, the landowners stay in your chain: read it with the power of attorney it gives the developer.

  5. 5

    Cross-check the encumbrance certificate

    Every deed on the tab should appear on it. Red flag: a registered mortgage with no release.

  6. 6

    Hand it to a lawyer

    With the deeds and the advocate's search report the promoter uploaded, for a 30-year search.

Source: ReraGenie, from the RERA Karnataka land filing and standard title practice

Three Karnataka traps the tab points to

Granted land. Land the state granted to a family, often to Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe grantees, is protected by the Karnataka Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prohibition of Transfer of Certain Lands) Act, 1978. It cannot be transferred without the government's prior permission, and the Assistant Commissioner can declare a transfer made without it void and restore the land. A 2023 amendment removed the time limit for invoking the Act, according to analyses published by SCC Online and FoxMandal. If any survey number under your project records a grant, ask for the permission order and have your lawyer read it.

Partition and inheritance. Land divided among a family or inherited from a parent needs every heir in the chain. A sister who never signed a release can surface years later with a claim on her share. Partition and inheritance together account for over 2,000 land rows; for each, ask for the partition deed, the family tree and the release deeds.

Joint development. Where landowners give land to a developer for a share of the flats, the agreement and the power of attorney decide who may sell which flat. Buying in a joint development project explains what to check, including whether the flat you are buying is the developer's share or the landowners'.

Warning

The land tab is the promoter's own description. It tells you what to ask for; it does not prove the answers. A deed recorded as executed still has to be read, and a survey number recorded as purchased can still carry a defect from an earlier transfer.

One quick first look is free: each project's page on the Karnataka project list names the landowners on file, which tells you before you read anything else whether a joint development sits behind the project.

An analogy: a relay race

A title chain works like a relay. Each runner has to receive the baton from the one before and hand it to the next, and a dropped baton disqualifies every runner who comes after, however fast they ran. The land tab is the race card: it names the runners and the order. Your lawyer's job is to watch every handover, including the ones that happened before the promoter joined the race.

Raghavendra's sisters

Names and numbers in this story are illustrative. Raghavendra inherited two acres outside Mysuru jointly with his two sisters, and a developer offered him a joint development agreement for a share of the flats. Before anything was signed, the developer's lawyer asked for the sisters' release deeds, registered at the sub-registrar, in his favour. One sister lived in Pune and took four months to come home and sign. Raghavendra thought it a formality. It was the most important paper in the file: when the project registered, the land tab recorded the survey number as released to him and then under the joint development agreement, and every buyer's lawyer would read the release deeds first. A buyer two years later need not wonder whether a sister in Pune might one day claim a third of the land under their flat.

Where buyers get it wrong

  1. Reading only the latest deed. The defect is usually earlier.
  2. Skipping the landowners. Under a joint development agreement, they are sellers too.
  3. Missing a grant. A survey number acquired by grant needs a permission order, not just a sale deed.
  4. Trusting a clean conclusion. An advocate's report can attach conditions to a clean conclusion; title certificate exceptions shows how to read them.
  5. Ignoring sub-divisions. A deed for survey number 60/3 does not by itself cover 60/3A.

Where the title sits among the other stages of a purchase is in buying a flat in Karnataka, and the khata, which is often confused with title, is in A khata, B khata and e-khata.

What the free page shows

ReraGenie's free page for a RERA Karnataka project names the landowners on file and lists every land paper the promoter uploaded by survey number: the title deed, the sale or gift deed, the relinquishment or release deeds, the joint development agreement, the conversion order, the RTC, the mutation and the encumbrance certificate. Buyer reports, the project watch and alerts cover MahaRERA projects only for now. Open a project from the Karnataka project list and its documents section gives your lawyer the list to work from.

Printable checklist

  • Every survey number listed with how it was acquired.
  • Each deed's parties connect the earlier holder to the current one.
  • Partition, inheritance and release: every heir's signature accounted for.
  • Granted land: the government's permission order seen.
  • Joint development agreement and power of attorney read; my flat's share confirmed.
  • Encumbrance certificate shows every deed and no unreleased mortgage.
  • Lawyer's 30-year search done before more than the booking amount.

Have a lawyer read the title before you pay more than a booking amount. This article is educational and not legal advice. For a dispute, consult a lawyer who practices before your state's RERA.

Looking at a project in Karnataka?

ReraGenie publishes a free page for every RERA Karnataka registration it covers: the filed dates, the approvals, the documents and the promoter's other registrations on the same register. Buyer reports, the project watch and alerts cover MahaRERA projects only for now.

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