Hi,
I am planning to buy a flat in Thane in resale from Mr "A". This flat is registered in the name of Mr A and he is the second owner. Mr A brought this flat from first owner Mr X.
The first owner Mr X was in abroad at the time of sale, so he gave Power of Attorney to Mr A and Mr B (son of Mr A) and both Mr A and Mr B registered flat in the name of Mr A. So effectively on entire Sale deed, we see only signatures of Mr A as both Seller and Buyer and there is a copy of power of attorney at the end.
I visited a local lawyer for document verification and he pointed out following issues with the sale deed -
1) The power of attorney from Mr X to Mr A and B, mentions that they have been granted "Authority to Purchase" instead of "Authority to Sale". Lawyer said that it should have been "Authority to Sale" as they are selling flat on behalf of Mr X to themselves.
2) The payment receipt in registration documents was also signed by Mr A, so it does not indicate that the consideration amount was finally accepted to Mr X. Power of Attorney does not state that they can sale flat or collect payment on behalf of Mr X.
3) Power of attorney was made on 500 Rs stamp paper. Lawyer told that as Mr X and Mr A are not in blood relation, Power of Attorney would need stamp duty to be paid.
My Lawyer mentioned that he does not see any fraud or foul play and this just seems like a careless clerical mistake from previous lawyer. I also personally know Mr A and B and trust them. I also believe that Mr X does not have any concern with past sale and had happily sold flat.
Lawyer, suggested that he can register the sale deed between myself and Mr A without any problem. On safer side, he says that we get a notarized Declaration from Mr X on stamp paper saying he has sold flat to Mr A and have received full and final payment and have not objection with sale deed.
Please note that we may have limited access to Mr X and he may not show interest in going through additional paper work considering that sale had happened 8 years back.
Please also note that Mr A has share certificate on his name and can also get NOC from society.
Please help me with following questions -
1) Should I go ahead with this deal or it should be avoided due to above clerical mistake?
2) Is the declaration on stamp paper as suggested by my lawyer good enough to safeguard me from any future issues?
3) If I buy and register flat in my name, can I face problems when I try to sale it because of defect in the chain of document.
4) If declaration from Mr X is not enough, what else can be done to fix this problem?
Attaching first 2 clauses of Power of Attorney that says Purchase instead of Sale.
