An apartment law one must know
With an increase in the real estate business, there are innumerable apartments coming up in every nook and corner of the city. With the construction of an apartment, there are a number of things which are to be organised and made the residents aware about. As an apartment consists of a number of people, it forms a society with a number of issues to be dealt with. There are various common issues which are to be dealt by the builder or the concerned authorities. Issues like the teething troubles, maintenance, handover and others should be looked into carefully.
The dilemma of registering an Apartment Owners Association:
The issues in an apartment can be either handled by the builder or a group of owners. One of the common questions which are raised is the registration of the Apartment Owner’s Association. In most cases, the builder gets the apartment registered for the community. Alternatively, the owners themselves have to get the apartment registered with the help of a lawyer. In most cases, there are several problems which a community faces at the time of apartment registration. In order to get the Apartment Owner’s Association registered, most of the lawyers recommend the registering of the apartment under the concerned state Societies Act. This Act can be at times be faulty and in such cases, the members of the community do not prefer registering their apartment under such Acts.
What can be done in such a situation?
- It is always better that the apartment community is registered by the builder. In case the builder hasn’t registered the apartment, the community can form a group and educate themselves about the society’s Acts and the requisites to register their apartment. Refer the various societies Act and the type of rule which can be implied to a society. For example, if an apartment in Bangalore has to be registered, it can be registered under the Karnataka Apartment Ownership Act.
The members should do a wider research before getting their apartment registered. They should also interact with other registered apartments and get relevant information from them.- It is very important that an apartment community should register their apartments under the state’s Apartment Ownership Act like the Karnataka Apartment Ownership Act (KAOA) for Bangalore. The apartment owners should ensure that the apartment is not registered under the Societies Act as this is the wrong process of registration. An apartment in Bangalore was registered under the Societies Act by the builder which was faulty and today the apartment complex is in the midst of a legal battle. However, since the apartment was not registered under a valid Act, the builder struggles to fight the case due to the lack of non-qualification of the Owners Act.
- In order to have a suitable registration of an apartment, it is mandatory that the apartment should be registered under the State Ownership Act which states that the apartment is a property of a residential nature where the owner owns the apartment and holds a percentage share in the land as well as common areas and amenities.
- Apart from the State Ownership Act, there is another Act of every state which regulates the process of promotion, construction, sale, management and transfer of the apartment. The Act also deals with the apartment concepts of transfers, mortgages and inheriting.
Transfer of an apartment:
In India, the sale and purchase of immovable property is governed by the Transfer of Property act of 1882. This act excludes the concept of an apartment along with its undivided share in land and common areas. It is very important that a concerned state’s Act equates the purchase of an apartment with its proportional undivided share to an immovable property under the Transfer of Property Act.
Important requisites for an apartment sale and association formation:
The documents required are;
Agreement of Sale:
Finalise an apartment purchase, pay an advance and sign an Agreement of Sale, which is to be registered under the Registration Act of 1908.
Deed of Declaration:
While the construction is in progress and before a final deed of apartment is executed and registered; the builder/promoter is to register a document known as Deed of Declaration under the registration act 1908.
Deed of Apartment:
The conveyance of the apartment is done by executing a Deed of Apartment.
Inform the competent authority:
To finish the formation of the association, true copies of the Deed of Declaration, by-laws and deeds of apartment have to be filed in the office of the competent authority – identified by the Act as the Registrar of Co-operative Societies.
Declaration under Form B:
A declaration by the owner(s) of each apartment under Form B is also to be executed and submitted to the competent authority.
