MahaRERA comes to rescue of flat buyers

MahaRERA has come to the rescue of flat buyers who were being armtwisted by a developer to pay more to ink the agreements for sale for the flats booked far back as 2006 According to experts this landmark order will benefit other flat buyers who endure long delays and unfair demands for payment by the developer MahaRERA gave this order while deciding a bunch of complaints against a developer whose project at Goregaon West has suffered prolonged delayThe quasijudicial body had recently passed an order in favour of 10 complainants who only had allotment letters some of which merely mentioned the floor and no mention of flat numbersInterestingly on the MahaRERA project registration web page the proposed completion date of the project was revised from December 31 2019 to December 30 2022 and now the completion date has been mentioned as December 31 2025The eight complainants have been issued allotment letters by the Sahajanand Developers on the companyrsquos letterhead pertaining to booking of flats in the proposed building known as Siddharth Nagar Gurukul Cooperative Housing Society Limited at Goregaon West None of the allotment letters mentions flat numbers However on some of the ALs mentions the floor numbers on which the flat was booked by the ComplainantsldquoIt is also noted from the record submitted before the authority that the respondent has accepted part payments from all the complainants aggregating to more than 20 per cent of the total consideration in each of these complaints However inspite of more than 20 per cent of the part payment received from the complainants at Sr Nos 1 to 8 the agreement for sale for all these complaints till date have not been executed and registered by the respondentrdquo the order statedFurther the name of the project was changed from Siddharth Nagar Gurukul CHS Ltd to Arista when the project was registered with MahaRERAMore discrepanciesMahaRERA noted that one of the complainants had booked two flats but only one allotment letter was issued for both flats Thus though the complainant has filed a single complaint for grievance pertaining to two flats The authority has also noted that the other complainant has submitted a brochure purportedly published by the respondent and which showed the date of possession as 2013 along with audio authentication report issued by Bombay Forensic under Section under 45A and 65B of Indian Evidence Act Whereas the respondent has submitted a subsequent allotment letter dated November 11 2020 for flat bearing B1003 on the 10th floor in the said project wherein the date of possession is mentioned as June 30 2022Other sideThe developerrsquos lawyer argued that the complainants 1 to 8 are investors so as such no identifiable flat was allotted in the letter Further no date of completion is mentioned in the allotment letter and also there is no agreement for saleJustifying the delays the developer said ldquoThe delays are over requirement of environment clearance change in planning authority and the personal health of the promoter in addition to COVID19rdquoMahaRERA observationMahaRERA chairman Ajoy Mehta in his order stated ldquoIt is crystal clear that the respondent is in contravention of the said Act for accepting from the complainants more than 10 per cent of the total consideration amount of the flats booked without entering into a written agreement for sale till daterdquoldquoThe Authority hereby makes it clear that even if the allotment letters issued by the respondent to the complainants are preRERA the same attracts the provisions of the RERA Act as the Act is retroactive in nature Further the respondent has not shown any evidence that the complainants are investors and not allotteesrdquo the order stated ldquoWhereas the MahaRERA Project registration website pertaining to the project wherein the information disclosed and timely updated by the respondent as prescribed does not reflect names of any of the complainants as investorslandowners Therefore the authority recognises the complainants as rightful allotteeshome buyers and concludes that the respondentrsquos contention of the complainants as being investors are vague and unfounded so as to evade the clutches of lawrdquoMahaRERA orderMahaRERA in its order stated ldquoThe complaints are allowed to claim relief The respondent is hereby directed to execute and register the agreement for sale in the name of complainants within 60 days from the date of this order Failing which the authority shall be constrained to levy penalty against the respondentrdquo Also in the detailed order MahaRERA also directed the respondent to pay interest for delayed possession along with other relief sought by the complainantsrdquoFlat buyer saysAarif KhanAarif Khan 54 one of the complainants said ldquoI thank MahaRERA for the order I am willing to continue in the project and even pay the balance due for my flats as per 2006 agreed payment schedulerdquoAdvocate speakAdvocate Godfrey PimentaAdvocate Godfrey Pimenta who represented one of the complainants said ldquoThe order passed by MahaRERA chairperson is path breaking since in pre RERA regime the developers often would sell flats without any valid permissions in hand such as intimation of disapproval or commencement certificate Flats were sold at discounted rates with flat numbers and even specified floor number only on the basis of area of the flat to be purchased In the present case no flat number is mentioned and no agreed date of possession As such the said order passed by the chairperson is a progressive onerdquo When asked about next step Pimenta said ldquoWe will move a noncompliance complaint with MahaRERA if the developer fails to adhere to the orderrdquo