Properties, Homes & more

In my last article, we observed how an economic fraud has been taking shape in SOHAM BUILDERS’ Thane project. The person, whom we can now call a CON-MAN, is none other than one of the most trusted aides of the builder - SOODESH MORE. Soodesh was enjoying trust not only from the builder, but also from many of the customers and staff. He usually was polite and always tried to settle the issues amicably. This quality of his has won him lot of trust from the buyers of residential properties.

I think a visit to the history behind all this story may be of help to my readers. It should be noted that the project under question - FAIRYTALE under Soham Gardens at Manpada Thane West - was under litigation for last 2-3 years. Soodesh was the middleman, interfacing between the builder and the angry, agitated, frustrated customers. He managed both so well that most of the customers actually put in trust and faith in Soodesh. He enjoyed a kind of blind faith! And this was exactly at the center of all this economic irregularity. Since he was blindly trusted, Soodesh managed to SELL THE SAME FLAT TO MULTIPLE BUYERS!

Find below the official communication from Soham Builders urging all its customers to avoid any type of dealing with Soodesh More.

In a shocking revelation to Times of India, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) civic chief Swadhin Kshatriya told that not a single building with car decks on each floor has so far received the mandatory occupation certificate (OC) from the corporation. According to the records with BMC, most of “such” residential buildings were still in the construction stage! And as a matter of fact, most of these building are in prime locations across the metropolis.

In fact, BMC has already stopped sanctioning buildings with car decks, in order to prevent any possible misuse. The chief cracked the whip after a TOI expose on how builders who had got permissions to construct car parking decks on each floor were misusing the space by selling it as part of your apartment. That means, builders claim that they are providing private car decks and in the process grab additional FSI. For example, one of the prominent developer in the metropolis show to prospective buyers the living room in the area earmarked for the car park! This is clearly illegal and is a criminal act of deceiving innocent buyers…

The most blatant case is that of a new residential building in JVPD (one of the most prime areas of Mumbai) where the BMC’s building proposal department sanctioned 386 car slots for just 33 apartments. You can read more details about the story here.

A real-life version of “Khosla Ka Ghosla” is being played out with an increasing number of non-resident Indians (NRIs). The Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) is being flooded with increasing complaints of illegal / fraudulent real estate deals and encroachments. In fact, with the recent Satyam scam casting its shadow on Maytas Properties, apprehensions amongst overseas investors has deepened.

It should be noted that property dispute is one of the most frequent complaints by NRIs. They are unable to protect their property due to long absences or lack of awareness of laws. The largest number of complaints are from major real estate markets like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Punjab.

The nature of the complaints are mainly protection of property that has been forcibly occupied or encroached, dispute relating to division of property or inheritance and cases where investors have been cheated by real estate developers.

What actions are being taken by Government?

A minister from MOIA has mentioned that, following this flood of complaints, he had written to state governments asking them to appoint nodal officers for civil, judicial and police matters. These nodal officers are independent from NRI cells that are dedicated for issues related to financial or welfare interests of overseas Indians. The ministry has also planned a session on property disputes at the Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas in January 2010. The purpose of the interactive session is three-fold: allowing NRIs to invest safely in realty, putting in place an institutional mechanism at the state-level for property related disputes and providing a channel for credible information relating to property and inheritance laws.

One of the recents developments happening in Thane’s real estate market is: builders are duping customers through sale of “stilt parking”. One of my close friends was a recent victim of this “possible scam”.

The builder in question is a reputed builder of Thane and has multitude of projecs running in and around Thane. this case happened in one of the projects which was, for some reasons, stuck in litigation in past. the builder have kept buyers in dark about it. now, somehow, the project is cleared and the project is almost on completion, he is trying to dupe customers by selling parking slots at exorbitant rates. he is also saying that STILT PARKING CAN’T BE SOLD LEGALLY (hence hehas & is selling them illegally) & HE IS NOT ALLOWING PARKING REGISTRATIONS ALSO.

I want to ask the legal experts if this is true.
1. Can “stilt parking” be sold at all?
2. Can “stilt parking” be registered? or, regularized?
3. What are legal options available to the customers?

Please share your opinions & save others.

A few days back, a leading newspaper carried an advertisement on their front page from a builder claiming that they are going to shed a light on the truth and are digging out the fact how the projects from another leading builder are charging Rs 5800/sqft for Plinth Area using hidden costs like Common Areas etc while they charge only Rs 2370/Sq ft for Plinth Area exclusively.

Now, the focus of a property seeker shifts towards the fact that how must he save himself from these smart games from the builder where he tries to buck extra? The smooth talking salesmen on the site of the builder chooses to skip on this fact too. So what should we do? The only way to save your skin from this hook is to have the right knowledge on the Carpet Area , Super Area and Plinth Area.

Here is a quick run-through the exact definitions you should know before diving in to scoop the best deal on property.

• “Carpet Area” refers to the total usable area within the four walls of an apartment or a commercial space, as the case may be. In other words, it refers to the area for which a carpet can be laid if required by the owners.
• “Plinth Area” refers to the entire carpet area along with the thickness of the external walls of the apartment. It obviously includes the thickness of the internal walls and the columns, if any, lying within the four walls of an apartment. The commercial space is not taken into account in calculating the plinth area.
• “Super Built-up Area” refers to the plinth area of an apartment or a commercial unit as added by the balconies and other common areas like corridors, staircase, lift room, motor room, security room, meeting hall, gymnasium and an area reserved for indoor games.

The builders, while advertising or quoting the rates for there properties, tag the carpet area and print the rates of the same in there commercials and public issues. But what they usually sell you is the Plinth Area. There has been a huge lot of roaring on this matter in past and yet the strength of the definition of Builder Area’s is enigmatic.

How many of us really get into the carpet area? We seem to simply go by what the builders say in terms of the saleable/chargeable area.

DO NOT GET FOOLED BY THE BUILDERS. I am intentionally posting this on April Fool’s Day, so as to warn all the readers and prospective proerty-buyers from being called “April Fooled by the builder”!!! Pass on this warning to all those you care about.