Your Housing Problems & Solutions
Maintenance for Flats owned by Builder
Q: In our society there are two flats in the name of relatives of our builder/developer, which have been vacant since the beginning. These two flats are mortgaged with LIC Finance by the builder as he had secured a loan on these flats around 2001. We understand that the builder after the initial few installments has stopped payments as a result of which the amount balance is 34 times more than the original loan amount.
Society is also not getting any maintenance payments for these flats since the beginning. We have sufficient correspondence with the builder in this connection, but have no response from him.
Builder has also not obtained occupation certificate (OC) for our society and now society has decided to take legal action in the appropriate court. Currently, builder owes the society some Rs 30-40 lakh towards water charges in the commercial category since 2001 and other expenses including maintenance charges. We are wondering why LIC Finance has not initiated recovery actions against these flats. Please advise how society can recover due amount and whether society can reclaim these flats from the builder.
A: How do you say that builder has mortgaged his flats in your society's building with LIC Housing Finance? If it is mortgaged with any finance company, that Finance company will give your society papers, informing the society that flats are in its custody, and further ask for flats membership or lien on those flats.
Since nothing is asked by LIC Housing Finance from the Society, it is high time that your society write a letter to LIC Housing finance, asking it whether builder has raised loan against mortgaging his two flats in your society with that financial organisation. State in your letter, that said two flats’ owner has defaulted himself in paying society's dues, and for non-payment of society's dues, society will take action against the builder owned two flats. Give LIC Housing Finance 15 days to reply, before taking any further action against the flat owner under MCS Act 101 to recover society's dues from his two flats.
For not providing you several other facilities in the building, the builder has taken full advance payment for such facilities from you along with advance maintenance charges for the period of two years.
If no action is taken by the LIC Housing Finance, then under MCS Act 101 initiate action for society's dues recovery from the two flats owned by the builder. For not providing several facilities to the flat buyers, in spite of taking advance payment for the facilities, take up the matter with District Consumer Forum, by individual flat buyers.
For taking the complaint against the builder at District Consumer Forum, go to your district consumer forum, they will give you a model of making the complaint with Consumer Forum or you can do a simple Google search for making Consumer Forum Complaint.
At Consumer Forum, you need not hire the services of an advocate. You can put the complaint and argue it yourself without the help of an advocate.
If you need a free of charge personalised help from expert, kindly come to Moneylife Foundation's Office on Tuesday between 4pm and 7pm, after you fix your appointment on Tel 022 4920 5000 on any working day.
Transferring Ownership of Flat
Q: Our flat is jointly in the name of my wife and son. My wife’s name stands first and son’s name second on the share certificate issued by our society. My son stays separately with his family in Powai and now wants his name to be replaced with my name. In other words, the flat should be jointly owned by the mother and father. Please advise on the process to get this done.
A: Ask your son to do a Gift Deed for his part in his flat, gifting his part to you. Stamp duty on such a Gift Deed is only Rs 500 plus 1 per cent Infrastructure Tax, on market value of part of your son's share in the flat. Registration charges are also Rs 500. Once you do this Gift Deed and register it, take xerox copy of the registered Gift Deed and its Index-2. With these xerox copies, and with associate membership form of the flat in Appendix-5, and entrance Fee Rs 100, with your share certificate, a covering letter, addressed to Secretary of the society, that you are enclosing these documents to delete your son's name and add your name as associate member of your wife's flat, all in a file.
Take xerox copy of these documents in another file, for your records. Within a month, society will transfer the flat in your name, as an associate member, with your wife as member.