Encumbrance Certificate Shows a Transaction That Is Not Yours

Reviewed on: 2026-06-12.

You pull a fresh Encumbrance Certificate (EC) before a sale, and one entry stops you cold. It lists a transaction you never made, or a survey number that is not yours, on your property's record. Here is how to find out what it really is and get the sub-registrar to fix it.

A typical case from Coimbatore: Lakshmi applies for an EC on her plot in survey number 58/2 to give a buyer's bank. The EC shows her own deeds, and one extra entry, a sale deed in two strangers' names against survey number 58/12. The numbers look close, so it is almost certainly a wrong survey number indexed against her property. The buyer's bank treats the stray entry as a cloud on title and holds the loan. The cure is two parallel steps: get the underlying deed by RTI to see what it actually is, and ask the sub-registrar in writing to verify and correct the entry.

A stray entry on the EC is usually one of these, and the remedy depends on which:

• Wrong survey, plot or door number. A deed of a nearby property was indexed against yours because of a digit error. This is a clerical fix the office can do.
• Wrong name. The entry carries names that are strangers to your title chain. Often an indexing mix-up, sometimes a genuine deed of someone else tagged to your property.
• Duplicate entry. The same transaction appears twice. A clean indexing correction.
• A real deed that overlaps your property. A validly registered transaction genuinely affects your extent or boundary. This is a title or boundary dispute, not just an office error.

Until you read the actual registered document, you cannot be sure which one it is. So the first move is to get that document.

1. Read the disputed entry and note its document number, year, the survey or door number, and the names shown. You need the document number to locate the deed.
2. File an RTI with the Public Information Officer of the state Registration and Stamps department for a certified copy of the document registered under that number and year, and the index or register page where it appears against your property.
3. Registration is a state subject, so file through your state RTI portal or by post to the office PIO, not the central portal.
4. When the certified copy arrives, check which property and parties it names. If it names a different survey number or different people, the entry is wrongly tagged to your EC and the office should de-link it. If it genuinely overlaps your property, it is a title question.

1. Build your title chain: your sale deed, prior deeds, the survey or record-of-rights document (such as patta and chitta with the FMB sketch in Tamil Nadu, or your state's equivalent), and a property tax receipt.
2. Submit a written correction request to the issuing sub-registrar, attaching the EC with the entry marked and your title documents, pointing to the exact entry to verify and de-link.
3. Use the correction option on your state registration portal if it has one, and keep the acknowledgement or token.

To,
The Sub-Registrar
[Name of Sub-Registrar's Office]
[State Registration and Stamps Department]

Date: [DD/MM/YYYY]

Subject: Wrong transaction recorded against my property in the
Encumbrance Certificate - request to verify and correct

Sir/Madam,

I own the property at Survey/Plot/Door No. [number], [village/area]. The
EC I obtained from your office for the period [from] to [to] lists this
entry, which does not relate to my property:

- Document number and year: [doc no. / year]
- As shown on EC: [survey/plot no., names, transaction type]
- Why it is not mine: [the survey/plot number is different / the names are
  strangers to my title chain / it is a duplicate / it appears to belong
  to an adjacent property]

My correct title is supported by the enclosed sale deed, prior deeds, the
survey / record-of-rights document, and a property tax receipt.

I request you to verify this entry against the registered records and the
index for my property, correct or de-link it if it does not relate to my
property, and issue a corrected Encumbrance Certificate. Please inform me
in writing of the action taken and the reason it was recorded against my
property.

Please acknowledge with a token number and the expected timeline.

Yours faithfully,
[Name, address, mobile, email]

The sub-registrar and the state Registration and Stamps department are public authorities, so RTI is a strong tool to see the records behind the stray entry and force a dated answer. Ask for the certified copy of the disputed deed, the index page where it sits, and the status and reason behind the entry. What RTI cannot do is decide ownership. If the certified deed is a valid registered transaction that really overlaps your property, that is a title or boundary dispute, and the routes are a rectification deed where both sides agree, or a civil suit for declaration of title where they do not. A private bank or buyer stalling your deal is not under RTI either; what helps them is the corrected EC and the dated official answer, which you can share once the office acts.

• Arguing at the counter without ever filing a written correction request, so there is no acknowledgement to escalate.
• Not noting the document number and year, leaving the office and the PIO unable to find the deed.
• Skipping the RTI for the underlying deed, so you never learn whether it is a clerical mix-up or a real overlap.
• Filing the RTI on the central portal when registration is a state subject.
• Assuming every error needs a court case, when a wrong survey number is usually an indexing correction the office can make.

Usually an indexing mistake: a wrong survey, plot or door number, a name mismatch, a duplicate, or a deed from a different property tagged to yours. To be sure, get a certified copy of the document behind the entry by RTI and compare which property and parties it names against your own title.

File an RTI with the state Registration department's PIO for a certified copy of the deed registered under the document number and year shown on the EC, and the index page where it sits. File through your state RTI portal, since registration is a state subject and the central portal does not cover it.

Some state portals let you raise a correction request and track it with a token, but the entry is verified and corrected by the sub-registrar against the registered records. You submit a written request with the EC and your title documents, and the office issues a corrected EC after checking.

Then it is a title or boundary dispute, not a clerical error, and RTI alone will not settle it. If both parties agree the description was wrong, they can register a rectification deed. If they do not agree, the route is a civil suit for declaration of title or to cancel the document, through a lawyer.

RTI will not direct a private bank or buyer. What it does is get you the certified deed and a dated official answer that the stray entry is being corrected, which is the proof they need. Once the office corrects the record, share the clean EC with them.

The EC with the entry marked, your sale deed and prior deeds, your state's survey or record-of-rights document, a property tax receipt, the document number and year of the disputed entry, and your identity proof. Having the correct chain in hand lets the office see at once that the entry does not fit your property.

Follow up in writing quoting your token, then escalate to the District Registrar and the Inspector General of Registration. On the transparency side, if the PIO does not reply in time, file a first appeal with the First Appellate Authority. A clear, dated record of what was registered and what the office did strengthens every later step.

• EC missing a recent registered deed
• EC still shows a closed mortgage
• Encumbrance certificate unavailable online
• Duplicate property record created
• Practical Guides hub
• How to file RTI online
• State RTI portal directory

Download the EC wrong transaction checklist (PDF).