Hi All
I am considering buying a resale apartment in Gurgaon, the owners of which are an NRI couple - both husband and wife jointly own it, with below details:
Background
So far all negotiations have taken place with a representative of the owners in India, who is not related to the supposed owners. I have only seen copies of the property documents - the original papers are with the owners residing abroad. Only one of the owners will travel to India along with the property papers to execute sale documents at the time of transfer, and will also sign the papers on behalf of the spouse on the basis of a power of attorney specifically for the purpose of selling the apartment
The seller wants an advance of 10% of apartment value before coming to India for selling the apartment. He is willing to sign the agreement to sale/'Bayana' papers at his residence abroad and send it to India, along with copies of property documents, passport and other identity documents. The agreement to sale will later be affixed to a stamp paper with the broker and then advance money be deposited in seller's account (half to each spouse)
Concern areas (that I can think of)
Legal status of the agreement to sale against advance money - I think any legal document, especially agreement to sell, signed abroad is NULL and VOID in India, though the broker insists that plenty of transactions with NRIs take place in this shape. Is there any way that the advance money paid is documented on a legally enforceable way ?
Considering that one of the owners will himself execute the sale deed at a later date on the basis of a power of attorney, is it possible for the seller's representative to sign the 'agreement to sell' on behalf of the sellers through a specific power of attorney for taking advance money of 10% ? Will it be legally enforceable ?
If the owners, who are NRIs, insist on making payments into a regular rupee savings account in an Indian bank, will it be valid for this transaction ? I had read somewhere that NRIs should only be paid by transferring money into their NRO/NRE accounts, with a 22% TDS deduction?
General legal status of power of attorney issued in favour of spouse for entering into a sale agreement. Can it lead to any unanticipated troubles later ?
Requesting legal advice on the above and any caveat emptors/best practices?
I know I have written a set of long and convoluted queries. Apologies for that.
Thanks
