Q1139. Registration of Power of Attorney in India for Renting Property located in India

Question: Hello Sir/madam I have a question regarding POA registration. much appreciated if you could respond. A Power of attorney (POA) regarding a property renting is attested by Indian embassy counselor in UK. The purpose of this POA is to form rental agreement only. Does this need to be registered in india to make it legal ? Kind Regards

Answer: My suggestion would be in such cases to get both Overseas Power of Attorney document and rental document registered. To protect yourself in case of a dispute in future, your agreement with your tenant should be registered. In many States of India courts may not even bother to hear a disputed agreement case unless the document had been registered. I believe you should have no problem renting your property without registering POA if your intention is not to register the agreement. However in such a scenario you would have no legal protection. An unregistered rental agreement may turn out to be a worthless piece of paper that cannot be enforced easily through legal channels. My advice to NRIs is to seek guidance from a lawyer and get property documentation prepared before renting their properties in India. Additional information on this topic is provided in the following articles on this website: 1. NRIs Renting Property in India - Types of rental agreements in India >>> 2. Renting Property in India - Benefits of Leave & License agreements >>>