Tag: maharera

The regulatory body dismissed a case in which a buyer sought full refund for not getting possession on time.

The Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) has ruled that developers, before making any changes in the approved plan of a project, require the consent of two-thirds of allottees, and once consent is given in writing and the plan is amended, the allottees cannot change their mind.

The order was given last week by MahaRERA member Bhalchandra Kapadnis in the Sunil Wadhwani vs Pashmina Realty Ltd case.

Homebuyer Wadhwani had booked flat no C-701 in Pashmina Lotus located at Chandivali in Powai with the promise of possession on September 30, 2016. Wadhwani sought refund of his investment with interest under Section 18 of RERA contending that the developer failed to deliver by the agreed upon date.

During the hearings, Pashmina Realty Ltd, represented by chartered account Ramesh Prabhu, contended that the plans for 4BHK were considered unviable, and had to be revised to build 2BHK and 3BHK flats in the project. The plans were modified with the written consent of two-thirds of homebuyers, including Wadhwani, as mandated by RERA. Prabhu argued that Wadhwani’s complaint should be dismissed since he gave consent for re-planning under Section 14 (2) of RERA and cannot withdraw his permission now.

Prabhu submitted that Pashmina Lotus project was abandoned and the revised project was registered as Lake Riviera A & B wings with MahaRERA and developer EktaWorld was brought on board as development manager. He said Wadhwani has used the registration number of Pashmina Lotus to file his complaint though he is now an allottee of Lake Riviera and hence his complaint was not maintainable.

Advocates Siddhesh Bhole and Krupashree Sawant, appearing for Wadhwani, pointed out that their client had paid Rs 2.70 crore out of the flat price of Rs 2.76 crore and unless the entire sum is refunded, no subsequent agreement can be executed. Kapadnis observed that the consent under Section 14 (2) of RERA — involving two-thirds allottees — was given to the promoters and Wadhwani had shown readiness to pay Rs 20 lakh for additional carpet area.

“These facts, therefore, establish that on the consent of the complainant, the respondents have acted upon to their disadvantage and hence the complainant is ‘estopped’ under Section 115 of Evidence Act from withdrawing his consent and his status as allottee of the new flats,” Kapadnis said in his 8-page order.

He also said Section 62 of the Contract Act and the principle of novation of contract come into play in this case. Section 62 states that if the parties to a contract agree to substitute it with a new contract, then the original agreement need not be acted upon. It also says that novation requires that the old contract be replaced by a new contract.

Holding that novation of contract should be applied to this case, Kapadnis ruled that the amount paid by Wadhwani for flat no C-701 should be adjusted against the two new flats and directed both parties to register the agreement for sale for the new flats within one month from the order.

Source: https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/mumbai/other/once-two-thirds-of-homebuyers-give-consent-no-turning-back-maharera/articleshow/73219860.cms

Pune

The Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) has in a recent order held that industrial units or buildings part of such units would not come under the purview of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016.

RERA adjudicating officer BD Kapadnis observed in an order that complaints related to industrial units could not be covered under the real estate statute.

The officer passed the order while hearing a case related to a complainant who had booked two units in an industrial facility, but failed to get their possession on agreed date of May 31, 2015. The complainant wanted to withdraw from the project and claimed refund of the amount with interests and compensation.

The RERA authorities said the Maharashtra Ownership Flats Act (Mofa), 1963, was applicable to the units and not the real estate law.

“It is clearly mentioned in the documents that the units are described as ‘estate units’ and they are of ‘big size’. It is mentioned in the documents that the units are agreed to be purchased for setting up industrial business of manufacturing and permitted under industrial location policy,” the RERA adjudicating office observed after going through the relevant documents related to the case.

“After looking into these legal aspects of the matter, the only conclusion that can be drawn is that Mofa is applicable to the premises used for carrying on any industry whereas the definition of the apartment does not include the industrial purpose. There remains no doubt in my mind that the industrial units are not included in the definition of apartment in RERA,” the officer added.

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/maharera-says-industry-units-not-under-purview/articleshow/73068802.cms

Mumbai

To ensure more professionalism and avoid frauds, the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) has mandated promoters (builders) to disclose membership details at its registered self-regulatory organisations (SROs).

The main role of SROs involves to create awareness programmes and encourage its members to comply with the provisions of the Act, rules and regulations, circulars issued by the MahaRERA regularly. A copy of the order is with the Free Press Journal.

Commenting on the development, Manju Yagnik, vice chairperson Nahar Group and vice president NAREDCO (Maharashtra) said, “With this inclusion, the SRO will now be responsible for its members adopting the RERA principles, rules and regulations in a more holistic manner.

The move will beneft consumers in terms of responsiveness and transparency. It will also allow SROs to enable developers to ensure greater professionalism on their part, and build confidence and credibility for their brand.”

Likewise, Parth Mehta, the Paradigm Realty managing director, stated, “It is another wise move to bring parity and professional code of conduct to the real estate practices across the state.

The SROs will encourage members to comply with the RERA Act provisions and implement MahaRERA rules and regulations. Unfair activities practised by developers have shaken the confidence of home-buyers, impacting the sector at large.

The move will restore trust deficit between home-buyers and developers, giving a boost to investment in the real estate sector.”

From December 1, builders applying to MahaRERA for registration of their real estate projects shall have to disclose their membership details with registered SROs.

Currently, the registered SROs with MahaRERA are Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry (MCHI), Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI), National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO).

While any other group, federation of promoters interested to be registered as an SRO with MahaRERA can apply online. They should have at least 500 MahaRERA registered projects of their members. Once approved, the SRO registration will remain valid for five years, according to MahaRERA.

Source: https://www.freepressjournal.in/mumbai/give-membership-details-at-regd-sros-maharera-tells-builders

Pune

The Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) will soon have 27 conciliation panels across the state to help address issues between aggrieved consumers and developers and ensure completion of projects on time.

MahaRERA also wants to ensure through the panels that the buyers get what they pay for. Currently, 15 conciliation panels are in operation — 10 in Mumbai and 5 in Pune.

The panels have so far resolved nearly 400 cases of the 541 it received, MahaRERA officials said. The additional 12 panels will be for Pune (1), Thane, Navi Mumbai, Nashik and Nagpur.

These panels comprise a consumer representative and a developer representative, who interact with banks, homebuyers and builders for timely completion of the projects. A recent meeting of the housing ministry had appreciated the formation of the conciliation forums in Maharashtra and urged all other states to replicate the model.

Mumbai Grahak Panchayat (MGP) chairperson Shirish Deshpande, who had taken the lead in forming such forums, said citizens have been registering for conciliation as they believed it would be a quicker process (if both the parties were willing) rather than waiting for a long-drawn case.

“The response towards the forums has been encouraging, both from the consumers and the developers. Keeping this in mind, it was decided to increase the number of such forums,” he said.

The conciliation panels help interact home buyers, builders and banks to maintain the stipulated time declared by the developer on its website.

Earlier last month, MahaRERA ordered seizure and auction of 253 properties of builders across the state to refund flat buyers, who were yet to receive possession because the developers had no funds to complete the projects.

All of these were cases where the buyers saw the real estate value of their flats plummeting and wanted to take advantage of the RERA provisions that allowed them to exit the projects with their investment, along with the interest amounts.

The MahaRERA officials said buyers trying to exit the projects would derail the entire process and told the allottees to get together and “combat the situation”.

Source: https://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/industry/maharera-to-soon-have-27-conciliation-panels-for-timely-project-completion/70812946

Mumbai

Though two homebuyers had only a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) as evidence that they invested in a flat. The Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) has ruled that it is proof enough of ownership and directed the developer to refund Rs 82.95 lakh with 10.75 per cent interest from 2012.

According to the complaint, Krishna and Veena Agarwal had booked flat in a project in 2012 and paid Rs 82.95 lakh out of the flat cost of Rs 89.41 lakh.

The complaint said the developer had assured possession in 2016, but in 2017, unilaterally changed the possession date to July 31, 2022.

The complaint also said that on the MahaRERA portal, the developer has mentioned that 40 floors are proposed, 28 are completed, but the Commencement Certificate is only till 27th floor; therefore, the Agarwals want to withdraw from the project and seek refund of their investment with interest.

During the hearings, the developer claimed that the Agarwals were not homebuyers but investors and that the MoU was not registered.

MahaRERA member Madhav Kulkarni observed that the Appellate Tribunal had held that even in the absence of a registered agreement, such complaints are maintainable.

Stating that the developer should not have accepted such a huge amount when the project was not progressing as per schedule, Kulkarni held that the builder had failed to deliver possession of the flat as per agreement and directed the company to refund the paid amount from the date of payment till final realisation.

Source: https://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/industry/maharera-says-mou-proof-enough-for-ownership/71002224

Pune

The Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority(MahaRERA) has for the first time taken suo motu action against two real estate agencies based out of Pune and Kalyan for facilitating sale of unregistered projects.

MahaRERA chairperson Gautam Chatterjee slapped Rs 80,000 and Rs 40,000 as fine on the Pune and Kalyan projects, respectively, last week. MahaRERA officials said the suo motu action was taken by Chatterjee because in both the instances, “unregistered” projects were being sold. TheReal Estate (Regulation and Development) Act makes registration of projects a must before sale.

“For the real estate agents, it is mandatory to sell the registered projects. The authorities initiated the action because the projects sold in Pune and Kalyan were unregistered,” a senior RERA official told TOI.

In the case in Pune, an agency facilitated the sale of apartments in a project spread over a 100-acre township in the Haveli area through advertisements on various social media websites without mentioning any MahaRERA registration details. In the second case, an another agency facilitated the sale of apartments in an unregistered project in Kalyan by circulating SMSs dated August 9, 2019.

In both the cases, MahaRERA noted that the material placed before it prima facie revealed that the agencies had facilitated the sale of apartments in projects not registered (with MahaRERA). This was in violation of Section 10(a) of the The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act. The officials said MahaRERA decided to take suo motu cognizance in exercise of the powers conferred upon it under Section 35 of the Act. Subsequently, a notice to the agents was issued and they were told to appear before the authority and explain their stand on the issue.

“In both the cases, the respondents, or the registered agents, have tendered apology and vowed not to solicit, misguide or engage in such facilitation of advertisements or sale. They submitted an affidavit that such violations of the Act would not happen in future and that they would strictly comply with the provisions of the statutes and the rules, regulations, orders and circulars issued under it,” an official said.

MahaRera chairperson in his hearing accepted that the violations of the provisions of the Act were inadvertent and the agents did not have any intention to show non-compliance towards the Act or its rules.

He has taken an undertaking from both agents that such a violation of the Act would not happen in future.

Source: https://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/regulatory/maharera-takes-suo-motu-action-against-two-real-estate-agencies/71073545

Pune

The Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) has placed 16 registered projects under the scanner for non-completion by developers who claimed to have gone bankrupt.

Complaints against these projects have been received mainly from Pune, Mumbai, and Thane, said the authorities. A hearing will be given to these developers, following which they will have to revert within a month or their registration will be revoked under section 7 of the MahaRERA Act, officials said.

In all, 70 complaints have been received from members of the homebuyers’ association against these 16 projects.

The regulatory body had said that homebuyers should form associations and lodge complaints against promoters under section 7 of the MahaRERA Act.

The MahaRERA authorities told TOI that several complaints have been received against these projects and the standard operating procedures (SOP) were put in place for revoking their RERA registration.

Under SOP, homebuyers can form association and lodge a complaint under section 7 of the MahaRERA Act, demanding that the registration be revoked and a new developer be appointed with the help of MahaRERA officials.

“The complaints have been received mainly from Mumbai, Pune and Thane against these projects. The MahaRERA will decide on the projects that have been shelved due to bankruptcy. For each of the registered complaint, hearing has been given to banks and homebuyers’ association and they have been asked to check on the projects’ feasibility,’’ stated officials.’ As per the SOP, the developers will get a month’s notice to arrange for money to complete the projects. If they fail to do so, the homebuyers’ association can appoint another developer or they can complete it themselves.

Citizens who have been issued MahaRERA orders but are awaiting implementation stated that the SOP would help to take the projects ahead if the association members work together. “There is very slow implementation of MahaRERA orders and the SOP should help,’’ said an affected citizen.

Developers, however, feel that the one-month window is too short a time and they should be given more time, especially, when a developer has gone bankrupt, they said.

Source: www.realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/regulatory/around-16-housing-projects-under-maharera-scanner/70431952

Pune

The Union minister of housing and urban affairs on Sunday said he would tell the state government’s housing department to look into bringing the unregistered projects under the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority’s ambit.

Hardeep Singh Puri, the Union minister of housing and urban affairs, said he would be writing to Maharashtra chief minister and the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) within the next fortnight to do the needful.

He made the commitment after hearing Shirish Deshpande, the chairman of Mumbai Grahak Panchayat — the Maharashtra consumers’ forum — in a meeting of the ministry of housing and urban affairs in Delhi.

The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Union finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, to discuss various issues concerning the real estate sector and the steps to be taken to strengthen it.

Deshpande told TOI that Section 4 (2)[c] of Real Estate Regulatory Authority Act requiring builders to produce sanctioned building plan and commencement certificate for registration was not mandatory in nature. This was also put forth by Madhya Pradesh RERA chief and RERA chiefs of other states too echoed it, he said.

Against this backdrop, Deshpande expressed hope that there was no need to amend Section 4 (2) [c] and projects could be registered with RERA without those certificates. “This will bring a huge number of unregistered projects under the ambit of MahaRERA,” he said.

Another participating member said the act clearly stated that if any project had not received completion certificate in 2017, when the act came into force, it would come under RERA irrespective of registration. “If any such projects are not registered, they would have to be registered and if it is not it is the duty of the authority to ensure registration,” said an activist.

Consumers have been approaching MahaRERA for registered projects so far.

The state consumers’ forum also put forth the delay in bringing redevelopment projects under MahaRERA. The state real estate regulatory authority has proposed an amendment to the existing rules to bring the rehabilitation and sale components of redevelopment projects under the ambit of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act. MahaRERA has sent a letter to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis for his approval to the amendment proposal.

Shirish Deshpande, the chairman of Mumbai Grahak Panchayat, said rules would have to be amended to consider any redevelopment project as “a whole project.”

The components related to the rehabilitation for the owners and sale are now accounted separately.

The developers now register only the sale component.

It will bring all redevelopment projects, with the rehabilitation components, under RERA.

Source: www.realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/industry/centre-to-tell-maharashtra-to-bring-unregistered-projects-under-maharera/70651767

Mumbai

With more and more lawyers representing clients in Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA) cases, the advocates handling these cases on Friday registered their Bar Association of MahaRERA with the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa.

State Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni on Friday formally presented a certificate of registration to the Bar Association of MahaRERA members at his office. Advocate Harshad Bhadbhade has been elected as the President of the association while advocate Anil D’souza and advocate Bishwajeet Mukherjee will serve as the Secretary and Joint Secretary.

The association was registered under the Bar Association (Constitution, Registration and Control) Rules, 2005 framed by the Bar Council under the Advocates Act, 1961 and Maharashtra Advocats Welfare Fund Act, 1981.

“MahaRERA cases with serial numbers having crossed the magical one lakh figure, it is easily the fastest growing and most approached quasi-judicial body in India. The Bar Association of MahaRera will strive to be the crucial link between the Bar and the Bench. There are many issues that litigants and advocates themselves are facing and this Bar Association will do its very best to be the bridge between all stake holders,” said secretary Anil Dsouza. He said the association has 50 members at the moment.

Maharashtra is the leading state in the implementation of RERA and has the highest 21,812 ongoing real estate projects registered with it. Out of these 16,946 projects are ongoing under the Authority’s monitoring, while 4,698 or 21 per cent of these projects have been successfully completed since May 1, 2017. MahaRERA received more than 8,217 complaints, and it has resolved and given orders in 62 per cent or 5,103 cases. 3,114 complaints are presently in the process of hearings.

Source: www.realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/regulatory/rera-lawyers-form-bar-association-of-maharera/70426128

Pune

The Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) has reduced the minimum registration fees from Rs 50,000 to Rs 10,000 for projects that will enable smaller units, especially in the rural areas, to come under its purview.

The change has been effected in accordance with the amended rules issued by the Maharashtra Housing Department on June 6, MahaRERA officials said.

With the prescribed rate of Rs10 per square metre and the minimum area of plot under RERA being 500 square metre, the minimum charge reduction would ensure that developers with smaller projects are encouraged to register with MahaRERA and no longer pay a blanket charge of Rs50,000, the officials said.

“Many cities, other than the metropolitans, have several small projects that may be spread over a little more than 1,000 sq metre or 1,200 sq metre. If these developers had to register their projects, they would have to pay Rs50,000 irrespective of the area. But the reduced minimum charges would encourage such developers to come forward and register their projects,” a senior MahaRERA official said.

MahaRERA completed two years of its implementation in May this year. The officials said over 21,000 projects have been registered in the state, the maximum in the country. Following this, the authorities have taken initiative to ensure more registrations and have more developers under MahaRERA’s purview.

“In the first and second year of the implementation of the rules, it was noticed that most of the registrations came from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and from cities such as Pune and Nagpur. Not many registrations came from the rural areas of the state. This year, our main focus is to penetrate into these areas,” the MahaRERA official said, as he elaborated the need for the amendments.

The changed rules have also reduced the fees for plotted developments, a move that will bring more projects from the rural areas under MahaRERA. In case of plotted development, the promoters have to pay an extended fee calculated on the area of the land proposed to be developed at the rate of Rs5 per sq meter.

Consumer forums, which have been urging MahaRERA to go ahead with these amendments, said the recent changes in the rules regarding registration of projects were done keeping in mind the ground realities. “Till the other day, the rules had not defined plotted development though RERA also covered plotted developments. Through this amendment, the definition of the plotted development has been added to the MahaRERA rules,” Mumbai Grahak Panchayat president Shirish Deshpande said. He added that bringing down the rate for plotted development from Rs10 to Rs5 per sq metre was “realistic”.

Besides, the conveyance to be done by the promoter is within three months since the arrival of the occupation certificate. The amended rules do not give the developers any options for delay.

“The earlier rule stated that the promoters have to give conveyance once 50% of the homebuyers paid full consideration or within one month from the formation of the society or within three months from the date of occupancy certificate, whichever earlier. This was impractical. The MGP had taken this up with the authorities while framing the original rules. But it was not considered then. However, the amended rules state that the conveyance has to be done within three months from the date of occupation certificate. It makes sense,” Deshpande said.

Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India, vice-president Shantilal Kataria said the reduction of minimum fees for registration will benefit the tier two, three and four cities and encourage more developers to register with MahaRERA. He, however, said the conveyance period of three months should have been six months.

Source: www.realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/regulatory/minimum-registration-fees-down-by-maharera-rural-areas-to-benefit/69765872