Buying property in Sri Lanka: the title checklist we use

Every property purchase we handle begins the same way: not with the deed the seller shows you, but with the extracts the Land Registry holds. The seller's deed tells you a story; the registry tells you the truth.

Our search traces the chain of title across the full statutory period, examining every deed in the chain for defects — improper attestation, missing consents, unstamped instruments and gaps in the sequence of owners.

Alongside the chain we check encumbrances: mortgages, leases, lis pendens and seizure notices registered against the land. An encumbrance is not always fatal, but an undisclosed one is always a negotiation point — or a reason to walk away.

The survey plan gets equal attention. The land you are shown and the land described in the deed are occasionally not the same land. We match the plan references, the extents and the boundaries, and where anything is unclear we commission a fresh survey before proceeding.

For condominium purchases the checklist extends to the condominium plan, the management corporation's status and the developer's compliance history. A beautiful apartment atop defective common-property documentation is a liability with a view.

Finally: never pay more than a modest, refundable advance before the report on title is in your hands. The sequence — search first, sign second, pay third — exists because reversing it is how buyers get hurt.