Buying a resale flat in Navi Mumbai: the papers to check, in order

The seller’s folder is open on the dining table. There’s an old agreement, a share certificate and a letter from CIDCO (the state company that planned Navi Mumbai). Which of these do you need to see before you pay a token, the advance that holds the flat?

Picture a couple with a four-year-old, renting in Kharghar. They’ve found a resale 2 BHK in an older society nearby. They’re an illustration, not real clients. The seller is moving to a bigger flat and wants a token this weekend.

A resale flat feels simpler: it’s built, and you can walk in today. But the money goes to one person, in one go. If a paper is missing, getting it back is slow.

So check the papers in order, and have a lawyer read the chain before any token.

Check the papers in this order, before you pay a token

1. The chain: Every past sale agreement, back to the builder’s first one, each with its Index II (the registrar’s summary).
2. CIDCO: The society’s lease, the seller’s CIDCO transfer letter, and who pays the next transfer charge.
3. The society: The share certificate in the seller’s name, the society’s NOC (no-objection letter) and a no-dues letter.
4. The OC: The occupancy certificate (it says the building is safe to live in), checked with its office.
5. Dues: Property tax and maintenance receipts, paid up to date.
6. Any loan: The seller’s bank letter with the amount owed, and how it will be closed.
7. Registration day: Stamp duty (the state’s tax on a property sale), the registration fee and the tax you hold back from the price (TDS).

• Buying your first home? Ask your bank for its resale paper list this week.
• Selling to upgrade? These are the papers your own buyer will ask for, so gather them before you list.

The chain of past sales shows the seller can sell

A flat’s title is its line of owners. Each sale is one link, from the builder to the first buyer and on to your seller.

Ask for every agreement in it, not just the seller’s. Each registered one has an Index II, the registrar’s one-page summary of that sale.

Look these up on the state’s registration portal. A gap between owners, a “lost” original or an inheritance in the chain is lawyer work.

Outside CIDCO’s planned towns, say on village land near Panvel, the land has a 7/12 extract (the state’s land record) or a property card. Both can be viewed on the state’s Mahabhumi site.

On CIDCO’s land, agree who pays CIDCO’s transfer charge

Flats in CIDCO’s planned towns usually stand on land CIDCO leased out. Our guide to CIDCO leasehold flats explains it in full.

A sale usually needs CIDCO’s written permission, so check your society’s lease. CIDCO also takes a transfer charge, by carpet area (the floor you can actually walk on). For 21 to 100 sq m this year, it runs from ₹43,300 to ₹4,42,200 in towns like Kharghar, Nerul and Vashi.

Take our couple’s 2 BHK, with about 700 sq ft of carpet area. Its charge is ₹2,58,400.

Who pays it, you or the seller? CIDCO’s circular doesn’t say, so your sale agreement must say, in writing.

• No OC yet? CIDCO then charges half, with a ₹5,000 minimum.
• Ask for the seller’s own CIDCO transfer letter, from when they bought.
• Ask CIDCO in writing whether any old dues are pending on the flat.

The society confirms the seller is a member and owes nothing

The share certificate is the seller’s proof of membership in the society. Ask for the original, in the seller’s name. After the sale, the society moves it into yours.

Ask for the society’s NOC too, its written OK for the sale. Banks often list it among the papers they want. Get a no-dues letter for maintenance too.

What can the society charge? A Bombay High Court order of 31 August 2018, as reported, said there’s a ceiling of ₹25,000 on a society’s transfer fee. No “donation” on top. Asked for more? Ask why, in writing.

Property tax goes to the city. Here that’s the Navi Mumbai or Panvel Municipal Corporation. Ask for the latest receipt, and agree in writing that the seller clears any arrears first.

Then ask whether the society has its conveyance. That’s the land and building passed from builder to society. On CIDCO land, that means the lease in the society’s name. If there’s none, the society can apply online to the state’s competent authority for a deemed conveyance. So ask whether it has one.

Without an OC, your loan and your own sale get harder

Older buildings don’t always have an OC. In June 2025, Navi Mumbai’s city corporation listed 2,111 buildings lived in without one.

Lenders ask for the OC before they lend on a resale flat, and their own buyer’s bank will ask too, years later. So ask for its number and date, and check both with the office that signed it. Our occupancy certificate guide shows how.

A loan on the flat must be closed, and the papers returned

The seller’s bank keeps the original papers until any loan is paid off. Ask for the bank’s letter showing what’s owed today. Then agree in writing how that loan gets paid from the price.

The RBI (India’s central bank) has set a clock on the papers. A lender must release them within 30 days of full repayment, or pay ₹5,000 for each day it’s late, if the delay is its fault.

CERSAI, the national register of loans secured on property, has a public search by property. A clean result is a good sign. But it only shows charges lenders registered, so it doesn’t rule out every loan or prove the title.

Taking a loan yourself? CIDCO issues a mortgage NOC, its OK for the flat to secure a loan. It’s a paper your bank may ask for.

Registration day brings stamp duty, the fee and TDS

Say our couple’s flat costs ₹80 lakh, an illustration, not a quote. This is what they pay on top of the price.

What	Who gets it	On this flat
Stamp duty, at 7%	The state	₹5,60,000
Registration fee	The state	₹30,000
CIDCO transfer charge	CIDCO	₹2,58,400, if the agreement puts it on you
Society transfer fee	The society	Up to ₹25,000, if the society charges you
Cash on top of the price		Up to ₹8,73,400

TDS, ₹80,000 here, comes out of the price, so it isn’t in that total.

Stamp duty drops to 6% in a woman’s sole name, on resale too. It’s charged on the higher of your price and the ready reckoner value, the government’s price card for the building.

Confirm the exact figure with your lawyer before registration. Our stamp duty guide for Navi Mumbai shows the sums.

• TDS (tax deducted at source): if the price or the ready reckoner value is ₹50 lakh or more, you hold back 1%.
• New from 1 April 2026: you file it on Form 141, within 30 days of the end of the month you deduct it. Confirm the TDS form with your CA (chartered accountant).

A resale loan is paid out at once, on the bank’s valuation

On resale, the bank pays the seller directly, because the flat already exists.

Banks lend on the lower of your price and the bank’s own valuation of the flat. If the valuer says less, you fill the gap.

Those are RBI’s limits (April 2025 Master Circular). Your bank will confirm today’s. On our couple’s flat, the most a bank lends is ₹64 lakh. Stamp duty and registration aren’t counted in the value, so that money comes from savings or family help.

An older building can also mean a smaller loan or a shorter term. One gain: a building with its OC carries no GST. Our six steps from loan to keys cover the loan side for a new flat.

From token to keys, ask each office how long it takes

We found no fixed time for CIDCO’s permission, the society’s NOC or a loan approval. So ask the society, CIDCO’s office and your bank how long each takes. Do it before you give notice on your rent.

Expect to keep paying rent while the papers are checked. Rent and the school run don’t pause for paperwork. After registration, ask the society to move the share certificate, and move the tax and power bills into your names.

Read the easy papers yourself, and pay a lawyer for the chain

“It’s been lived in for twenty years. What could go wrong?” You’ll hear it from someone who wants the token today. But a lived-in flat can still hide a gap in its chain, an old loan or an unpaid CIDCO charge.

My honest view: a token is the one payment that’s hard to undo, so make it the last step. Ask the lawyer for the fee in writing first.

The simple rule: no token until a lawyer has read the chain of sales, the share certificate and the bank’s loan letter. And put who pays CIDCO’s transfer charge in writing first.

Our couple can start this weekend, with no money moving. Ask the seller for copies of every paper above. Send us the flat through the form on this page; your area advisor’s name is on it. Let’s go through the folder together before anyone pays a token.

Questions buyers ask

Who pays CIDCO’s transfer charge, the buyer or the seller?

Whoever the sale agreement names. CIDCO’s circular doesn’t decide it, so settle it before the token.

Is TDS an extra cost on top of the price?

No. It’s a slice of the price, sent to the tax department instead of the seller.

Can we buy a flat whose building has no OC?

You can, but a loan is harder, and so is selling later. Ask a lawyer and your bank before any token.

How we checked: CIDCO’s charges come from its circular of 30 March 2026, and the other rules from the dated sources listed. The ₹80 lakh flat is an illustration, and its sums are our own arithmetic. Sources were read between 26 October and 7 November 2026.