It has come to MahaRERA ‘s notice that some advertisements of projects are being published in newspapers without registration number of MahaRERA. MahaRERA has taken serious notice of these irregularities and action is being taken against them by sending notices to these projects.

MahaRERA has appealed, basically it is illegal to publish advertisements without MahaRERA registration number and since it is dangerous for home buyers to invest in projects without MahaRERA registration number, homebuyers should refrain from investing in such projects.

No developer can advertise a project, or sell houses in a project without registering and obtaining the registration number from the authority. However, some developers are flouting this rule and advertising without MahaRERA registration number or simply mention ‘Maharera Registered’.

According to the RERA Act, any project (including flats) of more than 500 square meters or 8 flats is required to be registered with MahaRERA. Home buyers should take note of this to secure their investment.

In order to ensure that the home buyers and the investment in the real estate sector as a whole are safe, the government has implemented the Real Estate Act and established the MahaRERA for proper regulation of this sector. MahaRERA takes care of many fundamentals on behalf of home buyers and other investors in the sector.

Thus it should be noted by Homebuyers that by visiting the MahaRERA website they should first check, that whether the project is registered with MahaRERA. Whether the completion date mentioned by the builder is same to the date mentioned in the MahaRERA website. Also whether the agreement being executed by the developer with the homebuyer is in accordance to the one, prescribed by the model agreement by MahaRERA. Homebuyer should also be particular about the fact that once the developer has been paid 10 per cent of the home price, the registration and execution of the agreement of sale be carried out.

Even when dealing with a real estate agent, homebuyers should check on MahaRERA website, whether the builder has mentioned the name of the agent in the list that it provides to MahaRERA.

If the project is registered with MahaRERA, developers have to fulfill several conditions under the RERA Act for the benefit of the customer.

An account should be opened in the bank according to the RERA registration number so that the amount received from the developer for house purchase and house registration is spent on the same project without being spent elsewhere. 70 percent of the money received from the investors for that project has to be kept in this account for the work of this project. The developer can never withdraw this money. Developer can withdraw the amount only after getting the percentage and quality of work certificate from the project engineer, architect and chartered accountant. Moreover, the developer is required to update the project status on MahaRERA’s website every three months. Home buyers can see what work is going on in the project, how the work is going on, how far the work has come on the website of MahaRERA.

Apart from this, the important thing is that from January 1, made it mandatory to record the DIN Number (DIN) of all directors along with the developer along with other project details while registering the new project. Home buyers can invest safely by studying all this information, testing the capabilities of the developer.

In all these processes, the home purchase agreement with the developer is a very important document. In this regard, MahaRERA has also announced an ideal buyer contract. Among them, divine calamity, carpet area defect liability period and project transfer agreement are required as per MahaRERA Act and no change can be made by the developer. Apart from this, the developer can make any changes to the model purchase agreement with the consent of the buyer. But it is mandatory to underline the change so that the buyer can understand it clearly.

Also Read: 313 major projects on MahaRERA’s radar for anomalies

The post Suo motu action on Developers advertising projects without MahaRERA registration appeared first on Square Feat India.

By Varun Singh

November 2020 can easily go as the best month for the real estate market. While it saw the highest number of sales being registered since the year 2012.

A research by SquareFeatIndia a real estate news website shows that since the year 2012, November 2020 has registered the highest rental deals in the city of Mumbai.

Rental deals registered in November 2020 stood at 20,505, which in November 2019 was 18,842 only.

According to data accessed from the Department of Registration & Stamps, the number of registration in the rental market has increased drastically,

In November 2020, the number of sales that took place stood at 9,301, this was the highest again since 2012.

Rental deal registration has shown a peculiar trend too. If one notices, then will realize that the number of e-registrations has increased drastically.

In the year 2014, a total of 22 rental deals were carried out via e-registrations, while 11,062 were physical registration.

However, as days passed registration of leave and license moved from physical to online.

In the year 2017 for the first time e-registration took over the physical registration. In 2017 November, a total of 11,105 rent agreements were registered online while 6,020 were carried out via physical registration.

November 2020 is special in many terms for real estate market, especially it has proved that real estate market can survive and do well even in the pandemic year.

Research shows that, real estate not just did well but even broke all its previous records in November 2020.

The year started good for the realty industry, but with the pandemic, there was a month of April where not a single sale took place.

In April only 27 rental agreements were registered in the city of Mumbai that too online. The registration offices were shut because of COVID 19 led pandemic.

Coronavirus was not just impacting human life but also impacting the economy and realty market too.

The biggest boost that the real estate market received in this pandemic was the stamp duty cut announced by the government.

Apart form this the freebies that developers gave to homebuyers that added to the benefit of the homebuyer.

In the rental market too, landlords realized that it was better to have a tenant at less a rent than earn nothing by sticking to higher rents.

A real estate broker from western suburbs said, “There were rent waivers and even a freeze on rent at certain posh localities. Landlords were flexible and readily offering discounts this helped the leave and license market revive.”

Not just residential but even in commercial rental market landlords were offering good discounts, which helped them get tenants even in the current situation.

The figures clearly indicate that the realty market has started moving towards recovery and soon be on its feet running with pace.

Also Read: Residential rentals see a downward slide in Mumbai

The post Nov 2020 Sees Highest Rental Deals Since 2012 appeared first on Square Feat India.

By Varun Singh

In an interesting order passed by the Maharashtra Real Estate Appellate Tribunal (MREAT), it used other sources to decipher the date of possession in the absence of an agreement.

Actually MahaRERA had ordered the builder, Sahyog Homes Limited of Oshiwara based project Verona to pay interest to the home buyer Arif Yakub Ansari, till actual possession, if builder fails to deliver possession by March 2020.

The builder then challenged the order in the tribunal stating that, there was no agreement of sale executed. Hence, the developer wanted MahaRERA to consider the date of possession mentioned on its web portal (July 2022).

The home buyer had alleged that he was assured date of possession as December 2017. However, as the developer delayed it, he approached MahaRERA seeking relief.

The developer sought refuge that on the web portal of MahaRERA he had revised the date of possession from December 2017 to July 2022.

The developer aggrieved with MahaRERA order had approached the tribunal.

The home buyer at the tribunal pointed out, that the delay in possession necessitating revision in date of possession to July 2022 is the result of changes effected in plans for undertaking construction up to 39 floors against the original plan of 30 floors for the own business benefit/interest of builder.

The buyer had booked the flat in 2009, though its number was allotted in 2013. The builder also tried to paint the home buyer as investor, which the tribunal didn’t accept.

The developer in the tribunal mentioned that he had never agreed the date of possession as December 2017 to the home buyer.

However, the home buyer challenged that this (December 2017) was mentioned on the MahaRERA web portal as original date of possession.

The developer told the tribunal, “The said date was put on the portal because builder had few registered agreements with other allottees having the said date of possession.”

Based on this the tribunal held that, “In this particular case admittedly no agreement specifying date of possession is there. But own declaration of builder on MahaRERA portal is sufficient to conclude that December 2017 was the committed date of possession.”

The tribunal further stated in its order,  “This date of possession which Appellant (builder) claims to have been given to some other allottees in the same project is equally applicable and relevant for Respondent (homebuyer) also. From the facts submitted by parties, it is obvious that builder has failed to deliver possession by the said date.”

Finally the tribunal on July 27, 2020 confirmed the order originally passed by MahaRERA, while dismissing the appeal.

Also Read: Action against residents for occupying flats without OC

The post Agreement not the only source to know date of possession: Tribunal appeared first on Square Feat India.

By Adv Sunil Kewalramani and Adv Prakkash Rohira.

There is no express provision in the RERA Act and Maharashtra rules made there under, related to forfeiture of the booking amount or refund of booking amount, in case the parties do not sign the agreement.

However a plain reading of Clause No. 18 of the Model Form of Agreement, prescribed in the Maharashtra Real Estate (Regulation and Development) (Registration of Real Estate Projects, Registration of Real Estate Agents, Rotes of interest and Disclosures on Website) Rules, 2017, makes it clear that “if the parties fail to sign the agreement, the entire money paid by the allottees including the booking amount has to be returned to them without any interest.”

On June 29, Maharashtra Real Estate Appellate Tribunal (MREAT) passed an order, where the developer was asked to refund entire booking amount.

Read about the order here: Developer liable for promise made by Channel Partner

LEGAL IMPLICATION OF THIS LANDMARK JUDGEMENT

Before passing of this landmark judgement, the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) and Maharashtra Real Estate Appellate Tribunal (MREAT), through its past judgements were of the Legal view that, “if the allottee cancels the booking of the flat due to his personal reasons then the refund will be as per the terms and conditions of the allotment letter”. They were also of the legal view that “If the allottee cancels the booking of the flat due the default or misrepresentation by the Developer, in that case they are eligible for refund of the whole amount.”

In this Landmark judgement MREAT has observed the following, 

1. “The RERA Act is a welfare legislation enacted primarily to safeguard the interests of allottees and thus Developer cannot be allowed to act contrary to the spirit of RERA Act by devising formats (Booking form, Allotment Letter, etc) which are ambiguous, unreasonable and inequitable.” 
2. “Such arbitrary and one-sided interpretations making the contractual transactions unfair and inequitable put the Allottee in a disadvantageous position and thus cannot be accepted.”
3. “Developer cannot be allowed to act disadvantageously to the interests of the Allottee who was not made aware of interpretations and implications of ex-facie ambiguous, one-sided and inequitable terms used by the Developer in Application form/Allotment letter which Allottee has no choice but to sign on dotted line in a prescribed or standard form.”
4. “Forfeiture of amount by the Developer is erroneous and against the object and purpose of the RERA Act which is enacted as beneficial legislation to abate hardship of flat purchasers.”
5. “In view of the observations as above, we are of the view that forfeiture of amount paid by the Developer is improper and also contrary to the provisions of Act and for these reasons allottee is entitled to refund of forfeited amount without interest.”

This landmark judgement will be helpful for the homebuyers who want to cancel their flat booking due to personal reasons but are unable to do so due arbitrary and illegal forfeiture clauses in the Application form/Allotment letter.

This landmark judgement will also be helpful for the homebuyers who due COVID-19 Pandemic are unable to continue with their flat booking and want to cancel it. 

Note: Views and opinion expressed in the above article solely belong to the authors.

The post In absence of agreement, during cancellation, builder to refund booking amount appeared first on Square Feat India.

By Varun Singh

Now a homebuyer will be able to register his agreement for sale online sitting at the developers office.

The state government’s registration department has almost finalized the process and the infrastructure will be ready in next 15-days.

Omprakash Deshmukh, Inspector General-Registrations and Stamps confirmed that the infrastructure is being developed to allow this. “With NIC we have worked on a process where property registration could be carried out online. Within 15-days time the infrastructure will be live,” said Deshmukh.

Prajapati Group from Navi Mumbai has received permission for online registration of all their properties in their projects at Dronagiri and Panvel.

Actually a few days ago, during a webinar, CREDAI MCHI had requested Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat, that in view of COVID situation, developers should be allowed to register their properties online at their own offices. Thorat gave his nod to the proposal and accordingly instructed the Revenue department to permit the same.

Raajesh Prajapati, MD Prajapati Group said, “Now once the infrastructure is ready and connectivity with NIC is completed, the registration of our properties can be done at our own office at Panvel.”

How does this benefit a homebuyer? Homebuyers will not have to travel up to the sub registrar office for registration of properties they have bought from a developer.

This move will help reduce the load at sub Registrar office and also during COVID times people reduce crowding too.

Many homebuyers were fearful to visit the sub-registrar office for registration of documents. Now they will be able to register their properties at the office of developer.

This will also help homebuyers, because now developers won’t be able to delay the registration of agreement an important aspect of home buying.

Developers will also be equipped with ready reckoner rates of their property from the registration department. This will come handy while calculating the stamp duty to be paid when they register the agreement.

Manju Yagnik, Vice Chairperson, Nahar Group and Vice President NAREDCO (Maharashtra), said, “”The new facility will provide homebuyers with convenience to conduct all the home buying formalities under one roof. Registration is the most important and final step in the process. Allowing developers to have homebuyers to register his/her home at their office will also bring a sense of security and mental ease in an otherwise uncertain pandemic stressed world.”

Also Read: TATA housing directed to refund money to homebuyer

The post Now register property agreement at builder’s office appeared first on Square Feat India.

By Varun Singh

The lockdown post the pandemic forced many commercial outlets to down their shutters. Though in many cases the rent meters were on.

The unprecedented lockdown meant business are shut for long, this would be the first time that something like this happened.

Many tenants and landlords have started having lockdown clause too in the rent agreements.

According to a Bandra based landlord, he received requests from his tenants asking 100 per cent rent waiver.

“One of the commercial properties tenant asked if 50 per cent rent for the lockdown period could be waived or he was willing to share 5 per cent of the total profit whichever is less,” said the landlord.

Also Read: Managing Committee has no right to stop any maid

However, for future rent agreement might not leave a scope for such negotiation,. In the post COVID 19 era, advocated are drafting agreement that mentions lockdown.

According to Adv Vinod Sampat, tenants and landlord are scared.

“Now for unexpected eventualities like COVID 19 in all probability clauses will be there in agreements say 50 per cent of rent will be payable in such situations,” says Sampat.

According to Sampat, few things have to be considered now. “If it is a commercial premises licencee may have spend huge amount on furniture and fixtures. They will be in a soup as they are on a point of no return. In future they may try and protect such expenses with clauses for reduction in rental,” said Sampat.

Though most agreements do have a force majeure clause, where unforeseen circumstance are taken care of. Many are still asking their lawyers to have the lockdown clauses mentioned in the agreements.

Adv Prakkash Rohira recently formulated a rent agreement, and in that he did put the clause of lockdown.

According to Rohira, “We must understand most of the Properties in mumbai yield a Leave and License income of between 2-3 per cent for residential and 4-6 per cent for commercial, which is lower than a Fixed deposit.

Rohira says, “In residential properties, newer Leave and License agreements through various preferred words clearly state that the License Fees will be payable despite whatsoever circumstances. Prices wherever theres room for reduction are being considered based on prior relations, flexibility and probability of finding a new Licensee.”

For commercial properties Rohira says, “With Regard to Commercial Real Estate Leasing, The conflict between Licensors and Licensees have remained as to who is to bear the losses in case of another lockdown. As new commercial leasing have started movement, instead of leaving it for the interpretation of the Courts, both Licensors and Licensees are preferring to have precise terms inserted in the agreement as to the protocol followed in case there is another “lockdown, epidemic, pandemic, social restriction, or change or imposition of law or order that would directly affect the operation of the business of the Licensee.”

Also Read: May month’s registration income in Mumbai jumps 4 lac % from April

The post Rent agreements to have lockdown clause too appeared first on Square Feat India.