In another ‘Conveyance’ scam of mammoth proportions, the jt.registrar of co-operative societies Mr.Sandeep Deshmukh has appointed a special auditor to probe allegations of swindling against the committee members of Great Eastern Summit ‘A’ .An NGO by the name of Sahayak has alleged that the managing committee obtained Rs 30 Per Sq foot from society members on the pretext of ‘Conveyance’ charges. The NGO has submitted minutes of the meeting wherein the said charges are clearly mentioned. Readers should be aware that Conveyance is a procedure wherein the builder transfers the rights and title of a building he has constructed to the Society.
In Navi Mumbai, CIDCO NOC is not possible if the Conveyance is not in place. Normally, this Conveyance and Society formation is the Builders responsibility. He alone is responsible for all the costs associated with it. If the builder does not co-operate, the Society can apply for Deemed Conveyance wherein the Society applies for Conveyance on its own. In this case the Society bears the transfer cost which is listed on the CIDCO website. Most of the managing committee members take advantage of the lack of knowledge of Society Members and fleece them in the name of Conveyance. The total value of this scam is said to be upwards of 50 lakh rupees.
Sky Properties, Nerul, Navi Mumbai
Address A-1, 7,2, Sneh Co Op Society, Plot no 16, Sector 19a, Nerul, Navi Mumbai 400706 Call Us 9987452642 mayur@navimumbaiestate.in
Realty firm Orbit’s MD, Pujit Aggarwal was arrested on Monday, 12th September, for a fraud and cheating case registered by a firm called Capri Global Capital. The firm, Capri Global Capital had booked 3 flats in Orbit’s Saki Naka project called Orbit Residency Park. The said project was mortgaged with Life Insurance Corporation in 2008 itself. According to the law, Pujit Aggarwal was supposed to put 2.5 crores paid by Capri Global Capital in an escrow account, but had used it himself instead. Meena’s husband (now deceased) Rajendra Jain had a room in Ramesh Bhavan, Irani chawl at Nana Chowk when Pujit approached the landlord Pradeep Goragandhi with a redevelopment proposal.
Under the proposal, Rajendra Jain was supposed to get a flat in the Orbit heights project measuring 675 sqft carpet area in return for his acceptance of Pujit’s proposal.
They entered into an agreement in 2004 and paid stamp duty and registration for it.But by 2010,Pujit told Meena Jain that the flat could not be allotted to her due to some problems and promised to allot another one instead.
Meena Jain says that she was never given a copy of the registered agreement till date.Later she discovered that the said flat had already been sold to one Dilip Sanghvi who showed them an agreement registered in 2012 for the said flat.Meena jain says that Pujit Aggarwal has cheated her of 3 crores minimum.
Besides these cases, another group of people who had booked apartments in Orbit Residency Park have submitted an application to the Sakinaka police seeking legal action against Orbit, while two independent parties have also filed applications with the Economic Offences Wing of the Mumbai Police.
The Azad Maidan police registered a case against the Aggarwals (Pujit Aggarwal and Ravikiran Aggarwal) for cheating. Subsequently as investigations proceeded, Sections 406, 120(B) of the IPC and sections 3, 4 and 5 of the MOFA (Maharashtra Ownership Act)
In another instance of cheating, a builder couple named Rafiq Solanki (50 yrs) and his wife Mehrunissa Solanki (45 yrs ) have absconded after taking 8-10 lakhs from flat buyers who were promised flats in a 7 storied building that the couple promised to construct in Sector 22 of Turbhe Village. The couple is alleged to have purchased a plot from a Project Affected Person (PAP) in sector 22 (Turbhe) and started construction in 2010. They showed a forged CC (Commencement Certificate) to buyers and accepted booking amounts ranging from 8 to 10 lakhs for flats in a 7 storied building, but when the final structure was completed, it had only 4 floors. The people who had booked flats from the 5th to the 7th floor were left high and dry. Finally on 2nd July, seven of them lodged FIRs at the Turbhe Police station under section 465,468,471,420 etc. It may help to point out that most buildings constructed in Gaothan areas are illegal and the High Court has issued orders for their demolition.
Illegal building being demolished in Seawoods, Nerul
The Maharashtra state govt has decided to formulate a blanket Amnesty scheme for all illegal structures in Maharashtra that were constructed before 2015. But that policy has yet to be formulated. Besides that, the policy will have to be submitted to the High Court for approval and only then will it be implemented. Also, it is sure to be challenged in the Supreme Court for validity. So the chance of that policy succeeding is slim.
It may help to point out that just Digha alone has more than 100 illegal buildings constructed on MIDC land. Each of these buildings have flats which were sold cheap to buyers by local officials, corporators etc, in violation of all rules, thereby minting 100s of crores in the process. 3 NCP Corporators have already lost their positions and have been barred from the Municipal Corporation by the no nonsense Municipal Commissioner of Navi Mumbai Tukaram Munde who assumed charge just 3 months ago.
An online list of Commencement Certificates (CC) is also available at the NMMC Website, where buyers can check the validity of all documents of any project. Some projects may not be listed on the website and may require personal verification from the Town Planning office located on the 3rd floor of the new NMMC headquarters at Nerul. NMMC has also instructed the Registrars office not to register any sale agreement without a Commencement Certificate but to no avail.
Sky Properties, Nerul, Navi Mumbai
Address A-1, 7,2, Sneh Co Op Society, Plot no 16, Sector 19a, Nerul, Navi Mumbai 400706 Call Us 9987452642 mayur@navimumbaiestate.in
Owner of Snowgold constructions faced a setback as the high court dismissed his plea to quash the FIR against him in a forgery and cheating case. Patrawala can approach the supreme court and has stayed the the order for 8 weeks. Patrawala approached court after another builder,Ashok Mohnanai of Ekta builders,filed an FIR against him for cheating and forgery. As per Ekta builders,Patrawala took money as brokerage for a deal between Mohnanai and 70 year old Sushila Jadhav,who owns a bungalow on 13th Road,Khar West.Mohnanai also purchased an adjacent plot owned by Patrawala.Mohnanai claims that the money he gave for Sushila Jadhav never reached her and that Patrawala diverted the entire amount to his companies.He also donated money to trusts of politicians. Patrawala had approached Mohnani with the offer of the bungalow in June 2010.By March 2011,he had completed all formalities and paid all the money through cheques and a cheque of Rs 6 crore for Jadhav.When Jadhav did not vacate the plot even after making all payments,Mohnani visited Jadhav only to find out that Patrawala had not forwarded the money to jadhav and had instead usurped all the money himself.Patrawala had also made a slum dweller from kanjur marg open an account in the name of Sushila Jadhav into which he deposited the cheque issued by Mohnani for Sushila Jadhav. Mohnani then approached the economic offences wing.
The much talked about Kalyan-Dombivli illegal building scam assumed horrific proportions yesterday when it was revealed that the total number of buildings affected by the scam numbered 1500 and was only destined to go up once the investigations were concluded.
The very fact that more than 1500 buildings were illegally constructed shows the involvement of powerful people right from local MLA\’s to Corporators to underworld to Collectors to Gram panchayat right up to the tehsildar and talati levels.
This is an almost unimaginable scam and possibly the largest in the history of this country and was possibly going on since a few decades if not more.
It is also now emerging that the entire construction was financed by the underworld. The gangsters involved belong to the Ravi Pujari and Chhota Rajan gangs helped by 2 local MLA\’s.
The total villages involved number more than 40.Some of them are Nandivli, Dawadi, Bhopar, Govali and Azade.The Sarpanch and Upsarpanch played a key role in this scam.
The police has registered 11 FIR\’s in the Manpada police station against 33 individuals.Most of them are \’builders\’. Their names are …..
Mrityunjay Munni Singh (48),
Vishal Mrityunjay Singh (22),
Sunil Baban Gawade (45),
Sunil Gopal Bodare (35),
Satyawan Ganpat Kadam (59),
Ajay Shivram Kolte (42)
Dheeraj Mhatre.
Two of the accused – Amit Kumar Singh and Samir Virani – are absconding. Two other builders, who are absconding, are related to local MLAs.
Main Conspirators
The police are saying that a NCP leader from Thane and a Navi Mumbai based state Minister are exerting pressure on them to go slow in the case and spare the political people involved in the case.
The police is now revealing how every department they went to for verification of the documents turned them down or refused to give them any information. It was ultimately an RTI application filed with the district collectors office which replied after 4 months that no Non Agricultural certificates were issued to anyone in that area for the past 4 years !!!
The companies against whom FIR\’s have been registered are…
A builder by the name of Shirish Rangrao Chavan (age 38) (Suraj Enterprises) is absconding after a case of cheating was registered against him by Prakash Raut at the Kalamboli police station. The builder sold a flat in his building Suraj Apartment on plot no 90 at Sector 34, Kamothe to Prakash Raut. Later he found out that the flat was already sold to someone else in July 2011. The builder Shirish Chavan is absconding and his phone switched off. Two other people also claimed to have been cheated by the builder in the same way. In all,3 flats were sold to 6 people. This scam is growing by the day as more than 150 people are reportedly affected by the scam. In all cases, the builder took between 2 and 5 lakhs from each buyer and finally sold his plot to another person and absconded.
UPDATE 19,JULY,2012
Mr.Shirish Chavan has been arrested by the Kalamboli police for cheating approx 100 people who had invested in his projects in Panvel, Kamothe and Kalamboli. He was arrested from his native place in Kolhapur. A team of the Kalamboli Police went to Kolhapur to arrest him.
Sky Properties, Nerul, Navi Mumbai
Address A-1, 7,2, Sneh Co Op Society, Plot no 16, Sector 19a, Nerul, Navi Mumbai 400706 Call Us 9987452642 mayur@navimumbaiestate.in
The Maharashtra State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (Consumer Court) has asked M/S Vaidehi Akash Housing Pvt limited,to pay the expenses of stamp-duty,registration and conveyance for a 1000 sq ft flat located on Veera Desai Road(Andheri West).The builder had not handed over the flat to the buyer even seven years after making the full payment of 22 lakhs.The commission also told the builder to handover the flat within 45 days or else he will have to pay another 5 lakhs as interest. The builder had issued an allotment letter dated March 22,2005 but did not execute the sale agreement for the 22 lakhs paid to him.Despite repeated summons,the company and its directors failed to appear before it.The commission then passed an exparte order against them. Most people are unaware that they can pursue the builder for any problems in the consumer court and that the law is almost always on their side.Problems such as delayed conveyance,delayed society formation etc etc can be pursued in the Consumer Court and does not require a lawyer.Just a plain paper submission is ok.
On Wednesday 6th June, the Anti-corruption bureau (ACB) laid a trap for 2 CIDCO officials who were demanding a Rs 1,00,000 bribe from a lawyer for issuing a conveyance deed. Lawyer Vandana Jadhav had been trying to secure a conveyance deed for Sri Ganesh Society in Ghansoli for the past year and a half. Recently, CIDCO estate officer Sanjeev Dhole (45 yrs old) and his assistant Sunanda Gaikwad (51 yrs old) demanded 1 lakh in bribe. After further negotiations, they settled at 50,000. Lawyer Vandana Jadhav informed the ACB who laid a trap and caught the officials red handed. This is just one in a long series of corruption cases in CIDCO, an agency which thrives on corruption from head to toe.
In a landmark move, the President of India has given her approval to the amendment in the Maharashtra municipal councils, Municipal corporations and MRTP act 2010,whereby the municipal officers who allow illegal constructions to stand despite complaints now face jail for a month or a fine of Rs.25,000.Mr.Bhaskar Jadhav (Minister of Urban Development) informed the legislative assembly recently. The modification of the above acts, allows appointment of an officer to the said municipal corporations, councils, panchayats and industrial townships (MIDC),who will ensure demolition of illegal structures. If the officer doesn\’t perform his duties to demolish illegal constructions, he will be either imprisoned for a month or fined Rs.25000. To ensure that the officer does his duty unhindered, the govt has already sanctioned the deputation of a DCP or ACP to the municipal corporation, council, panchayat etc. State law amendments are sent to the Centre for approval if the matter they deal with is on the concurrent list. Since the modification deals with imprisonment, it was sent to the President for approval. But before you start celebrating, the devil lies in the details, namely, the Rules for such a prosecution, which are yet to be framed. The Minister of Urban Development says that the framing of rules will take a couple of months. Until then, its business as usual. What happens after that will depend on how tight the rules are. If implemented in true spirit, expect a lot of demolitions around you. It should keep the Municipal corporation busy for a long time.
Over 1200 houses constructed on Tribal land and Reserved forest land in Kashimira (Mira Bhayandar municipal council) were demolished on Sunday 20,May 2012.The areas affected were-Minakshinagar,Mashachapada and Dachkulpada.Over 500 municipal workers and 13 JCB machines completed the job in 3 hours.The occupiers were earlier given a notice.The Municipal authorities were opposed by a crowd of 2000 people but they were soon pacified and told to collect their belongings after which the houses were demolished.The locals claimed that they had paid the local politician Jyotsna Hansnale (NCP),Rs 50,000 to Rs 60,000 to allow them to construct the houses.Mira Bhayander is headed for elections in August and this demolition is sure to make a difference in the outcome.
In our recent experience, particularly in Navi Mumbai, we have come across numerous instances of builders giving a false picture to flat buyers, in order to sell their flats. Some of these methods are listed below and could be classified as scams to rip off the gullible customer….
“There is only one flat available”
This is the most common statement made by builders to any inquiries about their projects. It is more prevalent in smaller buildings of 4 floors or less. These are typically small plots of 200 sq. meters in Navi Mumbai and are usually Tripartite (also called CIDCO transfer plots by some builders). This is done to project a false image of a booming market. In most cases the builder has not even sold a single flat, let alone all flats. He makes this statement expecting the buyer to hurry his purchase and to sell his unsold flats. And normally this ‘available’ flat is either the ground floor or the top floor or some other location with a really bad ventilation or view. This is the flat that will give him the maximum headache while selling, therefore he wants to sell it first. In big projects, its normally the 4 bhks which the builder wants to get rid of first. 2 and 3 bhks are relatively easier to sell.
“All flats have been sold to investors,you will have to buy from them,there is no flat available directly”
This is nothing but another attempt to make you feel that the flats are in such a huge demand that there are none directly available from him. But dig a little further and ask him for a copy of the registered and stamp duty paid sale agreement of all those investors and you will be told that he doesn’t have anything like that because they have all paid in cash !! So basically he can catch a sweeper and make him appear like an investor cause cash payment has no record. Dont believe any such crap. This is just a trick to make you believe that he has sold all his flats. In most cases, he has not even sold a single flat.
Selling same flats (area-wise) at different prices to different buyers
The Real Estate market is the cash cow for politicians. They invest heavily via proxy companies and shell companies. It is also heavily funded by policemen. They plough all their ill-gotten wealth into real estate. Their black money funds builders in a big way. They don\’t want to let go of this money machine at any cost.
Mayur – Sky Properties
One way to find out whether you have been ripped off is to file an RTI with the Registrar of Societies of the district where the project is located and source out all the documents filed for registration of the society. These documents have details of all the flats that were sold and the price which were sold at along with the date the flat was sold on. Don\’t be surprised if you find you were ripped off a few extra lakhs than your next door neighbor. But this is much after the flats have been sold and the builder has formed the society. By then it may be too late to save your money. Photo below shows the list that the builder has to file with the registrar of Societies. Take a look..
“For carpet area,subtract 33% from the Saleable area (super built up area)”
This is the biggest scam being practiced on gullible buyers. When a builder tells you to assume that loading is just 33%, you can safely assume that the actual loading is almost 50%. You will end up paying a few lakhs more just because of this scam. It is safe to assume that in buildings that have been constructed recently (upto 3-5 years ago), the carpet area is exactly half of the built up area or maybe even upto 40% of the super built-up area. This is the main reason why older buildings are actually cheaper when compared via Carpet Area, since their carpet area is much more. The technical term for this scam is ‘Loading’. Please read other sections of our website for detailed explanation of this scam.
PS : With the advent of RERA, this lie has been curbed to a certain extent as the RERA website has the carpet area mentioned. But one should double check this area with the actual area as sometimes the builders give wrong and misleading information to RERA and RERA authorities blindly upload the same on the website. Caveat Emptor.
“You will get the legal papers only after paying the cash component of the deal”
Honest builders should give you a copy of all legal documents like title certificate, Municipal sanctioned plans, sample sale agreement (on blank paper) etc which you should get verified by a lawyer. The lawyer will normally not charge you to look at these papers. Don’t make the mistake of blindly paying the builders in cash. You will never get it back and you will be trapped.
PS : With RERA, this lie has also been curbed to a certain extent, since these disclosures are found on the RERA site…but recently there was a massive scam where some fraudsters forged building permits of the municipal corporation and land documents and got their projects listed on the RERA website. The buyers blindly believed the RERA authorities and booked flats in those projects (more than 55 at the last count) and lost their money. Just another day in Mafia Nation. See full report here
Flat is Vastu Compliant
This is another lie which the gullible liar swallows without a question. The builder does not substantiate his claims in any manner. No Vastu Charts or Autocad Drawings with the Vastu zones clearly marked are shown in the brochures. Simply saying that Entrance is facing the north or kitchen is in XYZ direction is nowhere close to what real Vastu is all about. Real Vastu involves careful plotting of the flat or home in Autocad and then superimposing the detailed direction map on top of the Autocad design to see the actual positions of the rooms and directions. But no builder will tell you all this and they will not show any evidence that their flats are Vastu Compliant. What the builder says is North may not be the accurate north. And even if it is the North direction, the other directions will change depending on the shape of the flat (Square or Rectangular). Any so-called ‘Vastu Expert’ who does not even plot an accurate floorplan of your flat in Autocad is just fooling you.
If any builder claims Vastu Compliance, ask him to send you the DWG file (Autocad file) of the flat and then you can send it to your Vastu consultant for careful verification and analysis. This is the only way for accurate Vastu analysis.
Society formation charges,Parking charges,Development charges.
Basically, you can safely assume that these charges will be taken in cash and no receipt issued as all of these charges are illegal. Builder does not sacrifice any FSI for parking area and hence its free for him. Supreme court has banned sale of parking space. What the builder doesn’t tell you is that he is not only charging for the society formation but also taking money for the conveyance of land and building to the society after its formation. Development charges are also illegal. Society formation charges are a scam as the registration of the society barely costs 5000 rupees and its the builder’s responsibility and expense to form a society as soon as he sells 60% of the flats in his project. Conveyance of land and building to the society is also the builder’s responsibility and expense. He cannot make the end consumer pay for it. If he does, you can take him to the consumer court. Even if he does not form a society or give conveyance, he can be taken to the consumer court. The decision is quick and will always come in favor of the society/flat purchaser.
How to Proceed legally against Builders who do not form a society and give conveyance to it :-
Flat buyers (*registered societies) can collectively hire an advocate for Rs 25,000 to 30,000. These charges include drafting and filing the papers in the Consumer Court, attending the hearings, arguments, serving notices and getting the certified copy of the final order of the court and getting a decree from the court to execute its order. These things must be made clear to the advocate in the beginning of the case in writing and his signature obtained on a piece of paper. If you neglect this, you cannot pursue a truant advocate. The Supreme court pays advocates it appoints as amicus curiae (friend of the court), Rs 6,000 at admission stage and Rs 10,000 at final hearing. So do not think that these charges are ridiculously low. And if you think that these charges are unrealistic, you can click on this link to see the official rate list of advocates in Supreme Court.
Consumer court handles these types of cases day in and day out. Its an open and shut case for them. Its not some super complicated or difficult matter. Approach the consumer court with confidence. The order will come in your favor at a fraction of the cost that you would pay for conveyance and registration yourselves.
Profit Margins of builders (Minimum 150%-200% margin)
When a builder quotes a price to you (per sq foot), you must assume that his construction cost + land cost + interest cost is exactly half of what he is quoting you. This is the bare minimum. An easy way for you to figure out a reasonably accurate figure is to first figure out his land cost. In Navi Mumbai, CIDCO gives prime plots on Tender. And winning bid can be found out via RTI filed with CIDCO. Then you calculate the built up area of the entire structure. This information is available on the RERA site. In Mumbai (Maharashtra) the cost of construction for the best quality construction is Rs 4000 per sq ft (includes everything including fittings and finishing) . This includes everything. If the builder compromises on this, he can cut down the construction cost to Rs 2000 per sq ft. Once you have his land cost and total built up area calculated, you can arrive at a fairly accurate figure of his cost of construction and land cost. Once you figure that out, its simple maths that will tell you how much it cost him to construct your flat. And in most cases you will see that its exactly half of what he is pricing his project at. Sometimes his margin is 200%. If you want you can even calculate the interest cost of his loan (if he has taken one)..cause construction of a Ground + 17 floor structure in Mumbai takes at least 1 year. A builder needs his own source of funds to complete upto 2-3 slabs of construction. After that he funds the rest via funds taken from buyers. If he is short of funds, he will sell a few flats to get some funds and continue construction.
If builder manages to sell 1/3 of the flats via booking during pre-construction or construction stage, he has funded his entire construction. He can relax and sell the rest of flats at any fat price he wishes. You can get max discount from the quoted price (upto 30% discount) during the initial construction phase or pre-construction phase. If he is really short of funds he may even give you a 40% discount … so that his construction can continue. So basically, for a builder, the main task is to somehow sell 1/3 of his project, even at a discounted rate, to fund the rest of the construction.
This should give you a good starting point to bargain with builders. When any govt dept issues tenders for a certain job, they calculate how much it will cost to complete the job. Then they issue a base price. This base price is calculated at cost + profit margin formula. Whoever bids closest to this price wins the bid.
Negotiate from a position of knowledge and inside information.
Price chart for our services
SERVICE
CHARGES
CIDCO Transfer only
15,000
Mortgage NOC only
15,000
CIDCO Transfer + Mortgage NOC
20,000
Only Drafting/Documentation
5,000
Drafting and Registration of Sale Agreement/Sale Deed
10,000
Brokerage (Purchase/Sale transaction)
2%
Brokerage (Rentals)
1 month rent/year
Consultation over Phone/Whatsapp/Zoom/Google Meet
4,000/30 mins
Property Tax Name Transfer
10,000
Water Bill Name Transfer
10,000
Pricing Chart for Our Real Estate Services
Sky Properties, Nerul, Navi Mumbai
Address A-1, 7,2, Sneh Co Op Society, Plot no 16, Sector 19a, Nerul, Navi Mumbai 400706 Call Us 9987452642 mayur@navimumbaiestate.in
Title certificate of the project land should be made available to the buyer before signing the agreement.
All sanctions like approved plans should be made available to the buyers at the time of signing the agreement.
The developer should only start bookings after all the sanctions for beginning construction have been obtained.
The sale agreement should be made as soon as the deposit or token money is recieved by the builder.
The price of flats cannot be changed once agreement is made.
The agreement should mention the carpet area and built up area.
But since CREDAI cannot legally do anything to its members violating the rules, there are other options that the buyer can go for…..
Cancel the booking. Most people are not aware that house purchase makes the builder liable to the Consumer protection act. Not only that, in Maharashtra,all sales of flats are governed by MOFA (Maharashtra ownership of flats act).According to this act, the builder has to refund the amount if the delivery is delayed along with interest. Most builders think that by wording the sale agreement in their favor they have managed to fool the buyer., but little do they know that if the buyer took them to court, they would fall flat. Forget about builder deducting a percentage if you cancel the booking, he is actually liable to pay you for the delay. In some cases you can also get compensation for the harassment and interest together along with legal costs.
Forming a flat buyers association This is a better option as it brings together the resources of many people who can then join hands and take on the builder. Two people can join and make and association and get it registered to grant it legitimacy. To register an association one needs basic documents like pan card, address proof etc., and a copy of the bylaws of the association. Bylaws specify why the association has been formed, who can become members, what its objectives are, membership charges, frequency of the meetings, rights and duties of the board, various committees of the association etc. You can also get an auditor to audit the accounts of the association. Total cost could work out between 3000-8000 rupees and take 20 days to complete the formalities. You can get members to join by using social media like facebook and by visiting the site personally or by advertising in newspapers once you have the basic members.You can also post on dedicated opinion sites like mouthshut and indian real estate forum.
Once an association is formed, you can approach the consumer courts (no lawyers or expensive fees required) or take the legal route. You can also file a complaint with the competition commission of India if the builder has stated unjust or anti competitive one sided sale agreements. Recently, DLF was at the receiving end of such a judgement in Gurgaon. A penalty of 630 crores has been imposed on DLF.DLF has appealed and the final judgement is pending. Kolkata west international city is also embroiled in a similar case. The builder had charged Rs. 4.20 per sq ft maintenance with 3 yrs advance payment. But once the association was formed, he quickly reduced it to 1.75 per sq ft with 2 yrs advance payment.
Housing construction is a service under the consumer protection act
Interest has to be paid for delayed possession
Buyer can opt out if there is a delay in delivery
Buyer can withhold payment if construction does not proceed.
Buyer can move court despite signing one sided agreements.
The first step is sending a legal notice. Even if he does not recieve it, it is considered delivered if sent via speedpost or registered mail. Preserve all brochures/catalogues and website page printouts to prove what was promised.
Ref: Economic times Wealth
Sky Properties, Nerul, Navi Mumbai
Address A-1, 7,2, Sneh Co Op Society, Plot no 16, Sector 19a, Nerul, Navi Mumbai 400706 Call Us 9987452642 mayur@navimumbaiestate.in
Flat buyers are often kept in the dark about the property taxes due on their plot/flat at the time of possession. Only later do they realize that they have been shortchanged by the builder/developer when they are slapped Property Tax Due Certificate by the Municipal Corporation, which sometimes can be to the tune of a few lakhs! It helps to remember that until the possession of the flat is handed over to the flat buyer, all taxes due on the flat/plot,are payable by whoever owns the flat/plot, which in most cases is the builder/developer. Often with the connivance of the Municipal corporations, the builder escaped payment of this tax. The Municipal corporation, which can easily make it mandatory for the builders to pay all liable taxes before handing over the Occupancy Certificate for the flat/building, happily chose to look the other way. All this is set to change if the Minister for Urban Development, Mr.Bhaskar Jadhav, is to be believed. According to the new rules proposed by the Minister..
Builders will have to pay property tax for 3 years at the time of issuance of the Commencement Certificate and if the construction is not complete at the end of 3 years, he will be liable to pay property tax for the next 3 years !
Recently, the Municipal corporation had issued notices for payment of pending property tax to more than 3.22 lakh flat owners across the city. After the opposition leader in the legislative assembly, Mr.Eknath Khadse, took up the issue, the govt changed its tune to revoke the property tax due certificate for recently completed buildings where Occupancy certificate has been issued recently but property tax has not yet been paid by the builder.
As an icing on the cake, the minister informed the house that Govt agencies like the MMRDA, SRA, Mhada along with the private builders, owed more than 10,000 crores in property tax !!
Just how and when these ideal solutions are implemented is anybody’s guess.
On January 18, 2000, Citibank approved Mahendra Mehta\’s home loan of Rs 2.23 lakh. The loan was granted at an interest rate of 14.6% and the monthly installment was Rs 4,241. It was to be repaid over a 21-month period and Mehta submitted the requisite documents to the bank. According to Mehta, he paid all the installments on time. However, the bank sought an additional three months\’ installments amounting to Rs 12,723. He paid the amount.
Mehta alleged that on March 22, 2007, he received a notice from the bank stating that he still had to pay back Rs 30,000. On April 2, 2007, Mehta sent the bank his reply and said there was no such outstanding amount on the loan. He also sent the bank an email and sought a refund of the excess amount of Rs 12,723, along with interest. The bank did not return the amount. In June 2007, the bank sent Mehta another letter, stating that the monthly installment was Rs 4,366 and not Rs 4,241 and hence, he had to pay an additional Rs 30,000. Mehta then sent the bank a notice through his lawyer and said that he would not pay this amount and once again, sought a refund of the three extra installments paid.
On March 3, 2008, Mehta filed a complaint in the forum. The bank filed its reply and said that since the RBI had hiked loan rates, Mehta\’s monthly installment was also increased. It argued that Mehta had availed a floating interest loan and not one on fixed interest and hence there was a change in the interest rate. With respect to Rs 12,723, the bank said that the installments of January 2002, July 2002 and August 2002 were not paid.
The forum said the loan approval order proved that the interest on the loan was 14.6% and the installment was Rs 4,241 and there was no mention of floating interest in the order. This established the bank\’s version as false and dishonest. The forum stated that had the loan approval order mentioned floating interest between 2002 to 2007, the bank would have changed interest rates and not accepted just Rs 4,241 from Mehta.
The forum held the bank guilty of deficiency in service.
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