The papers at a glance
| Paper | What it does | Registered? |
|---|---|---|
| Term sheet or MoU | Records the agreed share, timeline and costs before drafting | Usually not; keep it non-binding on title |
| Joint development agreement (JDA) | The full deal: share, schedule, specifications, delay, default and exit | Yes |
| General power of attorney (GPA) | Lets the developer apply for approvals and sell its share for you | Yes; required in Karnataka since 2025 where it allows sale |
| Sharing or allocation agreement | Names the exact units or plots that are yours and the developer's | Should be |
| Sale deeds | Pass title in each unit or plot to its buyer | Yes |
| Completion or occupancy certificate | Shows the building or layout is complete under the approved plan | Issued by the authority |
1. Before anything is signed
Clean title is the base. A developer's lawyer will check your RTC (pahani), mutation records, encumbrance certificate, khata or e-swathu record, conversion order if any, and the survey sketch. Check them yourself first. Our guide on every paper to check before you pay lists them, and RTC and mutation explains how to read the land records.
If several family members hold the land, all of them, or their legal heirs, must sign. A JDA signed by one co-owner without the others invites a dispute that stops the project.
2. The term sheet
Most deals start with a short term sheet or memorandum of understanding. It records the share, any deposit, the timeline and who pays which cost. Keep it short and say clearly that it does not transfer any right in the land. Do not hand over original title papers or possession at this stage.
3. The joint development agreement
The JDA is the deal itself. It should cover:
- The land, described by survey number, extent and boundaries, matching the RTC and sketch.
- Your share, as a percentage and, as soon as the plan is approved, by unit or plot number.
- Any deposit, whether refundable, and when it is paid.
- The timeline for approvals and for completion, with any grace period.
- Specifications for construction, attached as a schedule.
- Who pays for conversion, approvals, taxes, utilities and GST.
- What happens on delay, default, death of a party, or a refused approval.
- How the developer may sell, and whether it may borrow against the land.
Register the JDA at the sub-registrar office. A registered agreement gives you a public record of the deal, and for an individual or HUF landowner it is the condition for the income tax rule that delays capital gains to the year of completion. See tax on a joint development deal.
Stamp duty is payable on the JDA under the Karnataka Stamp Act, worked out on the value involved. The rate, the valuation basis and whether duty paid on the JDA is adjusted against the GPA should be confirmed at the sub-registrar office or with your lawyer before you sign. Who pays it is a matter for the JDA; it is often the developer.
4. The power of attorney
The GPA lets the developer sign for you: applications for conversion and plan approval, RERA filings, utility connections and, later, sale deeds for the developer's share. It is the most powerful paper you will sign, so it must be narrow.
Since 2025, Karnataka law requires a power of attorney that authorises the transfer of immovable property to be registered, where the person granting it lives in India. A notarised GPA is no longer accepted for such transfers. When the GPA is later used to register a sale, the original must be produced, along with proof that you are alive, in the form the registration rules set.
Limit the GPA in these ways:
- It may sell only the developer's share, listed by unit or plot number.
- Sale powers start only after the plan is approved and the sharing agreement is signed.
- It cannot mortgage your land or your units, unless the JDA allows a specific loan with your written consent.
- It does not let the developer receive money due to you.
- It ends, or the sale powers end, if the JDA is ended for default.
A GPA given for consideration, as in a JD, can be hard to revoke once the developer has an interest in the land. That is why the limits must be written in at the start, not added later.
5. Approvals and the sharing agreement
With the JDA and GPA registered, the developer applies for DC conversion if the land is agricultural, then plan or layout approval, then RERA registration if the project needs it. See DC conversion in Karnataka and layout approvals in Karnataka.
Once the plan is approved, sign a sharing or allocation agreement that names each unit or plot as yours or the developer's, attached to the approved plan. Register it. This is the paper that stops the developer from selling your units, and it is what buyers and their banks will ask to see.
6. Construction and completion
During construction, keep copies of every approval, every RERA quarterly update, and any change to the plan. A change to the approved plan can change the area of your share, so the JDA should say your share is recalculated on the revised plan.
At the end, the planning authority issues a completion or occupancy certificate. This date matters for tax, for delay compensation, and for handover.
7. Sale deeds
Buyers of the developer's units get sale deeds signed by the developer, for itself and for you under the GPA, because the land is still in your name. In an apartment project, each deed passes an undivided share of the land with the flat. You sign sale deeds for your own units yourself, or keep them.
Each buyer must then update the khata or e-khata in their name. Since e-khata and e-swathu records became a requirement for registering most properties, make sure the land's records are in order early, so registration is not held up at the end. Our guide to A-khata, B-khata and e-khata explains the records.
Common mistakes
- Signing the GPA before the JDA, or on the same day without reading it.
- A GPA that covers "all property" instead of the developer's units by number.
- No sharing agreement, leaving your units to be "allotted later".
- Handing over original title documents with no receipt or return date.
- A JDA that is not registered, which weakens both your rights and your tax position.
For the full picture of a JD, start with our landowner's guide to joint development.
How we help
We read every draft before you sign: the JDA, the GPA and the sharing agreement, against your land records and the agreed deal. We make sure the GPA is limited, your units are named, and each paper is registered in the right order. See our documentation service and joint development service, or ask us to review a draft.
