The Brave Pedestrian

  Flat buyers in India typically have a one-sided relationship with the builder. The flat purchaser is tied to the agreement or contract, whereas the builder is usually free. to break the agreement at any point of time. The flat-buyer stands to lose token amount, which is 10% of the consideration value. The builder stands to lose almost nothing if the contracts breaks, and he stands to gain the 10% of the consideration value by doing nothing. The flat-buyer is tied by the 10 percent token that he pays, but the builder is not tied. The entire relationship is at the builder's discretion, will and convenience. Why are flat-buyers entering such one-sided relationships? ISSUED IN PUBLIC INTEREST BY Krishnaraj Rao 9821588114 and 8169471229 krish.kkphoto@gmail.com Mumbai

You can make out a convincing case in court for demanding refund of the entire amount that you may have paid to the builder, without forfeiting 10% token amount allowed by RERA Act. ISSUED IN PUBLIC INTEREST BY Krishnaraj Rao 9821588114 and 8169471229 Mumbai

  There is no semblance of parity in the contract between builders and buyers in the Indian property market. The transaction between builders and buyers is biased heavily in favour of builders, laying the grounds for exploitation at every step. ISSUED IN PUBLIC INTEREST BY Krishnaraj Rao 9821588114 and 8169471229

  Ordinary law-abiding folks are not aware that it is NOT considered a criminal offense to tell lies on websites or in public. It is not a CRIME to falsely call yourself a doctor or lawyer or builder, and it is not a crime to falsely claim professional or financial credentials for work that you haven't done. This leads many unwary citizens into money-traps, where they lose a lot of money. Please be careful. ISSUED IN PUBLIC INTEREST BY Krishnaraj Rao 9821588114 and 8169471229 krish.kkphoto@gmail.com Mumbai

18th June, 2019, Mumbai: Many flat-buyers of Lodha Group's various projects -- especially Palava City, New Cuffe Parade and World Towers -- want a refund. They want to cancel their deal, and get their money back with interest. The usual reasons are: (1) build quality issues (2) delayed possession (3) carpet area deficiency (4) unfair trade practices (5) unauthorized or improperly authorized construction (6) mis-selling and false promises. But getting money back from Lodha is difficult. The terms and conditions mentioned in the application form, allotment letter and agreement form make it clear that Lodha will retain 10% of the consideration amount, and make a lot of other deductions too. So, how to get back your refund without losing a lot of money? Well, friends, here is something you can try. There is a big loophole in Lodha's agreement format for various projects. It is a clause designed by Lodha's lawyers to trap customers, but this same clause can be used by ...

30th May, 2019, Mumbai: It seems that for nearly seven years, Indian judiciary has been struggling with one riddle, and that riddle is this: Was Anita Wadhawal a "workman", entitled to protection of the labour laws of the state? Or wasn't she? It would appear that after endless proceedings stretching from June 2012, and examining witnesses and documentary evidences, the court is still not able to decide whether she is a workman or not. Anita Wadhawal - Employee of FL Smidth, Thane, India Labour Court, Thane, has conclusively come to the finding that she is indeed a workman, and that her employer, Danish company FLSmidth, are guilty of Unfair Labour Practices. But the company has suffered no adverse consequences. On the other hand, Anita Wadhawal has been utterly ruined. Compelled to stay out of employment in order to avoid dismissal of her plaint, she has suffered total loss of income for seven years. As the sole earning member of her family, with aged parents...

Mumbai, 8th December 2018: Going behind the backs of the flat owners and residents of the posh Lodha New Cuffe Parade, a Lodha employee named Vinod R Parab has submitted applications on behalf of Dioro, Elisium, Enchante (and maybe Evoq also) to the state cooperation department on 17th October, 2018.   Lodha employee Vinod R Parab, who gave his residence address as "BDD Chawl, NM Joshi Marg, Mumbai 400011" claimed to have been elected as chief promoter by nine flat-owners each of Dioro, Elisium and Enchante.  Many flat-owners, when contacted, said that they had no knowledge of their name and signature being on such an application!  EVIDENTLY, NO SUCH ELECTIONS EVER HAPPENED. The law requires that a meeting of the promoters of the proposed cooperative society is held, where the chief promoter is elected, and a resolution is passed for seeking a certain name registration by the government department. It is evident that no such meeting was held. It i...

Mumbai, 6th June, 2018: Recent orders of RERA and its appellate tribunal give a ray of hope to flat-buyers of Neral Viviana and Nano City projects duped with false promises of possession in December 2015. These orders may help aggrieved buyers to seek refund with interest and compensation. However, Nirman's delay in payment may also be the first signs of impending financial failure. Nirman's efforts to avoid refunding about Rs 18 lakhs to schoolteacher Suvarna Deokule backfired. Suvarna, a divorced mother bringing up her two children, argued her own case and got three consecutive favourable orders: 1) On 28th February, 2018, RERA member BD Kapadnis directed Nirman to refund her with 10.05% interest. Read the 1st MahaRERA order . 2) As Nirman did not comply, o n 4th May, 2018, Kapadnis directed District Collector, Raigarh, to collect Suvarna's dues as arrears of land revenue. The order named the Nirman directors Kunda Suryakant Parab, Rajendra Madhukar Sawa...

Mumbai, 30th May 2018: Investors who booked a 1BHK flat in Viviana project of Nirman Realtors & Developers Ltd (NRDL) should go back and verify that it is actually a 1BHK. The fear is that it will probably be just a 1RK i.e. one-room-kitchen apartment, because, out of five blocks of Nirman Viviana, the first four blocks have only 1RK flats. Only Block 5 has 42 flats in 1BHK configuration. There is ample proof to suggest that Nirman has deliberately created the false impression in the minds of its flat-buyers that their flat is a 1 BHK. RERA website shows that Nirman intends to deliver one-room-kitchen flats to all flat-buyers in Viviana Block 1 to 4. It is therefore amazing that Nirman Viviana ( and Nano City ) were continually advertised as 1 BHK projects during the past 2-3 years at least. One ad claimed that Viviana was "1BHK flats only": This advertisement has been falsely claiming for years that the entire Nirman Viviana project has "1 BHK flats ...

Mumbai, 26th May, 2018: If you think you purchased a 1BHK apartment in Nirman builder's Nano City -- also called "Nano Futuro" -- then this is a wake-up call for you, because your flat is a 1RK at best and a single-room studio apartment at worst. Your Nano City flat simply cannot have a one bedroom-hall-kitchen layout. All three blocks of Nano City project constructed by Nirman Realtors & Developers Ltd (NRDL) only has 1RK and studio apartments (one-room flats) as per MahaRERA page of Nano City. But, for many years, Nirman and its estate agency arm Propbest have been falsely advertizing 1BHK flats in Nano City/ Nano Futuro. Examples of such ads are readily available on the Facebook page of Nirman Realtors and Developers . NRDL's Facebook page shows f alse advertisement of 1BHK flats in Nano Futuro, Neral (along with Green Acres, Malad). False advertisement of 1BHK flats in Nano Futuro (along with Sai Nirman) False advertis...

Mumbai, 22 May, 2018: Those who have purchased flats from Nirman Realtors & Developers Pvt Ltd (NRDL) should become alert after seeing the builder's blatant defiance of RERA orders, and their tricks to avoid repaying a home-buyer Rs 18 lakhs plus interest. The case of home-buyer Suvarna Deokule, who is a teacher singlehandedly raising her two children, speaks for itself. Suvarna bought a flat for herself and her two children in Nirman Viviana, Neral, and paid close to Rs 18 lakhs in various installments in 2015, because she was informed that she would get possession before 15th December 2015. However, as possession was not given until 2018, Suvarna filed a complaint before RERA, seeking to withdraw from the project. Suvarna Deokule with her two children. Rajendra Sawant of Nirman Group filed an affidavit-in-reply, pleading that the delay in possession was due to ban on sand mining, etc. On 28th February, 2018, BD Kapadnis gave a clear order in Suvarna's favour,...

Below is the emailed rejoinder (and subsequent exchange of correspondence) relating to this article about Nirman Realtor's non-compliance of RERA orders on Viviana project, Neral. Dear Mr. Krishna Rao, It appears that either you have received incomplete information or you have distorted the facts relating to the issue involved in the matter. Some relevant facts relating to the case are as under:- The Complainant, Suverna Deokule approached the RERA authority with false and misleading statements on oath inter-alia that in the Agreement for Sale dated 7th May 2015, the Respondent has mentioned the composition of the subject flat as 1 BHK instead of 1RK. Answer:-The Complainant suppressed that firstly in the agreement no where it is mentioned that flat agreed to sale to the complainant is 1 BHK as falsely alleged. Secondly, in the Agreement for Sale, the Nirman has annexed floor plan of the building Block No.3 at Annexure F therein clearly showing that the flat...