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Possession Letter / Handover Deed

કબજા પત્ર

A short document recording when physical possession actually changed hands. Short, cheap, and repeatedly decisive.

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Why the date of possession matters so much

Possession is a fact with legal consequences, and the date it passed decides several things at once: when liability for property tax, society charges and utilities shifts; when risk of damage moves; when a limitation period may begin to run; and — importantly for an agreement to sell — whether section 17(1A) of the Registration Act, 1908 is engaged, because delivery of possession is an ingredient of section 53A of the Transfer of Property Act.

Record the condition, not just the date.

A possession letter that records only a date has done half the job. Record the condition of the property, the meter readings, the keys handed over, the fixtures and fittings included, and any outstanding work. A short inventory with photographs attached is worth more than several paragraphs of general words, and it is what settles the argument six months later.

Where possession letters are used

  • A builder handing over a unit to a buyer
  • A seller handing over on completion, or earlier under an agreement to sell
  • A landlord and tenant at the start and end of a tenancy
  • A contractor handing back a site
  • Family members recording a division of occupation

What it does not do

A possession letter is not a conveyance and does not transfer ownership. Where a builder gives possession long before the sale deed is executed, that gap is a real exposure for the buyer and should be dealt with in the underlying agreement, not papered over with a handover note. Sale deed →

On stamp duty.

We do not publish duty figures on this website. The Gujarat Stamp Act, 1958 was amended in 2025 and several articles were restructured; a rate printed on a web page goes stale and costs somebody money. As a Government authorised e-Stamping centre we confirm the duty currently prescribed for your specific document and issue the e-stamp against it, at face value. The notarial fee is separate and capped by law — ₹35 to attest execution, ₹35 to administer an oath or take an affidavit, under Rule 10(1) of the Notaries Rules, 1956. The full fee table →

Drafted here, in Gujarati or English

Drafted by an advocate of 35+ years rather than filled into a downloaded template, e-stamped at a Government authorised centre, and notarised in the same visit. If the parties read Gujarati, the document is drafted in Gujarati — not translated out of an English form, because legal Gujarati has its own settled vocabulary and a literal translation frequently means something looser.

What to bring

  • The underlying agreement or sale deed
  • Photo ID for both parties
  • Meter readings and details of keys and fittings being handed over
  • Photographs of the property's condition at handover

Related

Common questions

Is a possession letter legally important?

Yes, out of proportion to its length. It fixes the date on which liability for outgoings and risk of damage shifted, and where an agreement to sell is involved it evidences whether possession passed — which decides whether section 17(1A) of the Registration Act requires registration.

The builder is giving possession but the sale deed is not ready. Is that safe?

It is common and it is a real exposure. What protects the buyer is what the underlying agreement says about when the conveyance will be executed and what happens if it is not — not the possession letter itself. Bring the agreement.

Should a tenant sign a possession letter?

At the start and at the end, yes, with an inventory and photographs both times. Deposit disputes are the commonest landlord-tenant fight in Vadodara and almost all of them are arguments about condition that a two-page handover record would have prevented.

Not sure which document you need?

Tell us what the office, bank or court asked for. We will name the exact document, the stamp value and whether notarisation is enough — before you pay anything.

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