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The Government has enacted
various legislations to
safeguard the interest of the
flat / shop / office purchaser,
chief amongst them being the
Maharashtra Ownership Flats Act,
1963 and the rules framed there
under have been suitably amended
from time to time.
PURCHASE of immovable property in
general and Ownership flats, offices or shops in particular entails pecuniary
involvement which generally runs into lakhs of rupees and therefore requires any
person who ventures into such an acquisition to take utmost caution in such a
purchase whereby his / her hard earned money is suitably protected and the roof
over his / her head and / or his / her means of livelihood involves no
complication of a legal nature.
The Government has enacted various legislations to safeguard the interest of the
flat / shop / office purchaser, chief amongst them being the Maharashtra
Ownership Flats Act, 1963 and the rules framed there under have been suitably
amended from time to time.
Lands in Pune City on which Ownership flats / tenements can be constructed (i.e.
land in the residential zone) can generally be classified into the following
categories :
a) Freehold
b) Leasehold
i. Co-op. Society Plot
ii. Private Ownership
In case of Freehold lands, the following papers should be scrutinized :
a) 7/12 Extract and / or property card extract, which is the revenue record
indicating the holder and the tenure should not reflect any encumbrances and
should bear either the Developers / Promoters name or that of the land owner
with whom the Developer / Promoter has entered into contract for Development as
its holder. No onerous bar / restriction as to the tenure of the land in
question or upon the rights and interest of the holder should be accepted.
b. Title Deeds of the property (i.e. Documents by which property has been
acquired or right / interest has been created) - This deed / instrument should
vest unto the Developer / promoter sufficient authority to develop the said
property and deal with and dispose off the same and should be engrossed on the
stipulated Stamp paper and should be duly registered with the Sub-Registrar of
Assurances.
c. Clearance / Permission from the Competent Authority under the Urban Land
(Ceiling & Regulation) Act, 1976.
d. Building plans duly sanctioned by the Municipal / Local Authorities is
required in the event of acquiring constructed premises be it residential,
commercial or otherwise in nature. Commencement / Completion Certificate from
the Municipal Authorities is also mandatory required in such cases. Permission
for Non-Agriculture use from the Collect orate is a statutory pre-requisite prior
to commencing any development activity on any land.
e. Search Report i.e. tracing of the history / root of title of / to the
property for the last 30 years and Title Certificate of the Advocate of the
Promoter / Developer.
f. Zoning of the lands upon which the intended project / scheme is being floated
needs to be verified to ensure that the end product being constructed is in
consonance with the prescribed usage.
g. Up to date clearances of property / land tax and other dues pertaining to any
immovable property should also be ascertained.
The Maharashtra Ownership Flat Act has prescribed and mandatorily stipulated a
standard format for the Agreement required to be entered into by the Promoter
with the flat / unit purchaser of built-up premises which contains requisite
safe-guards.
In the event of flats or other constructed premises / units purchased in re-sale
and not from its Promoter / Developer, the following additional precautions need
to be observed and verified :
a. Whether the Seller has stamped and duly Registered his Agreement of Purchase.
b. Whether the Seller has made full payment to the developer including all due
outgoings.
c. Whether the Seller's name/s is / are duly recorded in the Pune Municipal
Corporation / Pune Cantonment Board records as owner.
d. If Society has been formed and whether seller's name is recorded as Owner.
e. Whether all taxes, maintenance charges and electricity bills are duly paid
up to date.
f. That the flat / shop / office or premises being purchased are not mortgaged
to any financial institutions or bank.
It is pertinent to record that stamp duty is required to be paid on any
instrument as per the market value as prescribed by the Registration Authority
or the document value, whichever is higher, and is payable mandatorily on the
Agreement of sale itself.
All Agreement/s in respect of flats / units purchased from Builder / Promoter
are required to be mandatorily registered. A registration fee of 1% or 30,000/-
whichever is lower is payable thereagainst.
In case of leasehold plots the flat purchaser should confirm that the residual
lease period is sufficient and that the lease contains sufficient authority and
right for the Owner / Promoter to develop the property and create third party
interest therein.
In case of plots / premises in Co-operative Housing Society No Objection
Certificate should be obtained from the Housing Society for the construction and
sale of the Ownership flats therein. This check list is in addition to the one
enumerated hereinabove for freehold plots or constructed premises.
The above is a broad gist of documents which are normally required to be
preliminarily scrutinized and inspected for a prime facie clearance and the
precautions enumerated herein are not exhaustive but only a guideline and in
fact vary from case to case since various other complicated legal aspects such
as coverage of entire branches of Hindu undivided family or verification of
consent of legal heirs in case of sale of property belonging to Muslims are only
a few instances which have to be delved into but in normal course purchase from
a Promoter of repute and availing the services of a lawyer specialized in the
field to have a thorough check would not be unwarranted but in fact would be
advisable to avoid subsequent sleepless nights.
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