The Brave Pedestrian

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 ...

19th May, 2017: There appears to be a widespread campaign to malign Maharashtra's Real Estate Regulatory Authority as being biased in favour of builders, and not in accordance with the central Real Estate Regulation Act, 2016. This is a false story cunningly planted by the builder lobby, intended to deter citizens and flat-buyers from filing complaints against builders. The truth is that MahaRERA, as Maharashtra's Real Estate Regulatory Authority is known, is going to be the most strict taskmaster that builders have ever faced in Independent India! A fun way to understand what I am saying is to watch these two Marathi videos: Gautam Chatterjee & Ramesh Prabhu explain RERA's Effect on Building Industry A Seriously Funny Discussion on RERA with Navi Mumbai Builders It is as if a tsunami has reached the Mumbai coastline, and is about to hit the builders who have been taking not only flat-buyers and investors, but also the whole country for a ride. After this tsu...