Q.809 How to sell property in

India if NRI owner unable to travel

to India

Question: Dear Sir, I am a Canadian citizen and I have a property in Tamilnadu, India which I want to sell from Canada. I am a senior citizen and due to my health issues I cannot go to India and I have no reliable relatives in India to sell it for me. I would like to know whether it is possible for me to sell it from Canada without going to India and how the document and money transaction could be done. I would be thankful if you could advise me some reliable parties through whom I can do my selling. I appreciate your reply. Kind regards. Answer: Regarding your request to advise you of reliable parties through whom you can sell, I am unable to recommend anyone unless I have dealt with them personally and currently can’t think of anyone. If you could travel to India then you would probably have a better chance of selling your property at market value. If you cannot travel then you will have to sell via power of attorney route. In your absence you will need someone to act on your behalf. If no trust worthy person is available you can consider the possibility of hiring someone to carry out your instructions. Perhaps even some trust worthy person in Canada may help sort this out. Property Sale in India from abroad when owner unable to travel to India While finding buyers and preparation of sale deed etc. can be done by brokers, lawyers etc in India, the presence of the owner is required at the time of registration in the registrar office. If this is not possible then the option is to allow someone to represent the owner by giving a Power of Attorney to act on the owners behalf. NRIs can either get the required Power of Attorney document prepared in India or abroad. However, POA sent to India from abroad regarding property matters must be signed and attested at the Indian Consulate. Once the Indian Consulate attests the POA it should be acceptable by registrars in India. To sell your property you are going to need: • Property documents showing ownership of the property etc. • An NRO bank account in India. If you do not already have such an account, you can open one from Canada by using online services offered by many Indian banks to non-resident Indians. This type of account will be required to have the sale proceeds sent to Canada. • Power of attorney document prepared and attested by the Indian consulate.

Be Alert when issuing Power of

Attorney

By giving power of attorney you are allowing someone to act on your behalf. When drafting a POA seek the services of a lawyer to ensure your POA is not misused. People in India often ask NRIs to simply send a general power of attorney as this will cover everything and be more convenient. However giving a general power of attorney is very risky and subject to misuse. Generally there appears to be a misunderstanding that Non-residents must give a comprehensive power of attorney to allow someone to represent them on property matters in India. However this is not true, instead of giving a POA to someone to act on their behalf on all property matters, the seller can give 'Admit PoA' rights to someone to represent them only at the registration office. All other documents should be signed by the seller themselves which is quite easy these days with fast courier services.