MahaRERA issues recovery warrant against Virar developer

Housing regulator Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) has issued a recovery warrant for a refund of Rs 21.75 lakh against developer Bhoomi & Arkade Associates for the attachment and auction of an undelivered flat. The warrant also pertains to other unsold inventory not booked or mortgaged to financial institutions.

In the warrant dated August 23, issued under section 40(1) of RERA, MahaRERA, secretary Dr Vasant Prabhu directed the Palghar Collector to recover the amount with 9 per cent interest under the Land Revenue Recovery Act 1890 and Land Revenue Rules 1967. Besides, Rs 20,000 has to be recovered as a cost of the complaint.

The warrant was issued in response to a complaint filed by Vijay Lal and Premlata Menaria about the flats they had booked in Project “Acropolis II”. Menarias had initially booked two flats (No 1104 and 1105) in Acropolis II. Subsequently, they cancelled the booking of flat no 1104 and the developer agreed to adjust the money paid towards flat No.1104. The complainant had paid Rs 21.75 lakh till June 2016 to the developer.

However, the developer did not execute the agreement for sale. The complainants contended that the developer verbally agreed to hand over the possession of the flats by Nov 2017, but did not fulfil the promise. They also contended that although the developer had mentioned the area of the flat as 368.58 sq ft in the allotment letter, the area was shown as 336.14 sq. ft on MahaRERA website. As the project remained incomplete, the complainant buyers cancelled their bookings by sending a notice on May 24, 2018.