What is conveyance deed?
Also called: deed of conveyance, registry, society conveyance, deemed conveyance
A conveyance deed is the registered document that transfers ownership, either from a builder to a flat buyer or from the builder to the residents' society or association for the land and common areas.
Strictly, any registered deed that transfers title is a conveyance, and a sale deed is one kind of it. In housing the word comes up in two settings. Across NCR and most of North India, the builder's final registered transfer of a new flat is usually called the conveyance deed. In Maharashtra it more often means the separate deed by which the developer hands the land and building over to the cooperative housing society.
RERA puts a clock on it. Section 11(4)(f) makes execution of a registered conveyance deed the promoter's duty, and Section 17 requires the flat to go to the allottee, and the undivided share in common areas to the association, within the period set by local law. Where there's no local law, the deadline is three months from the occupancy certificate.
Mumbai has lived with this problem for decades. Thousands of older societies never got conveyance because developers held on to the land, hoping to load leftover FSI later. Maharashtra's fix is deemed conveyance under Section 11 of MOFA: the society applies to the District Deputy Registrar of Cooperative Societies, who can certify conveyance and have the deed registered without the builder's signature. It takes paperwork, a survey and months of patience, but it works.
For a flat owner the stakes are real. Without conveyance, the society can't take up redevelopment on its own terms, can't use unused FSI or TDR, and the land could still be mortgaged by the builder. Anyone buying a resale flat in an older building should ask for the society's conveyance deed or deemed conveyance certificate before paying.
A 48-flat Borivali society built in the 1980s, whose builder can no longer be traced, applies for deemed conveyance. Once the District Deputy Registrar's certificate and the deed are registered, the society owns the plot and can invite redevelopment proposals on land that is finally in its name.
Assuming that owning your flat means your society owns the land. In many older Mumbai and Pune buildings it doesn't, and the gap usually surfaces only when redevelopment talks start or a bank runs a title search.
Questions people ask about conveyance deed
Is deemed conveyance as good as a normal conveyance?
Yes. Once the competent authority's certificate is issued and the deed is registered, the society holds title just as it would if the builder had signed.
How long does a builder have to execute the conveyance?
Under RERA, the period fixed by state law, or three months from the OC where there's none. Under the MOFA rules in Maharashtra, the builder is expected to convey to the society within four months of its registration.