Property

BJP faces corruption image loss over land allocation by Yeddyurappa

For the past several weeks, the BJP has been putting a huge amount of pressure on the Congress over corruption, with the scams related to the spending on the Commonwealth Games, the Adarsh housing society of defense land, and the whole drama over the allocation of 2G spectrum by the former telecom minister (A Raja) (something in which the opposition has started to bring the Prime Minister into the line of fire, accused of standing by while all this corruption was happening). However, in a demonstration of the overall amount of corruption in the Indian polity, the tables have turned to some extent on the BJP, with the Chief Minister of their only state in the south, B S Yeddyurappa, being apparently guilty of allocating land out of turn, at low costs, and by changing policies, to his kith and kin. The situation has reached such a state that there are strong chances that he will have to bow out of office, otherwise the Congress will be using this as a weapon to blunt the corruption stick.
B S Yeddyurappa has faced some major problems before, including the almost defeat due to the non-support of some legislators (both from the BJP and 5 independents). He managed to face this test of support with some loss of strength (including having to take the support of the mining barons, the Reddy brothers, who would no doubt want an increase in their influence and tweaking of policies to support their mining industries). He also faces opposition in both the state and in the central wings of the BJP, with Ananth Kumar and Sushma Swaraj against him. But, it is this latest issue that is threatening to topple him.
Read more…

Consumer forum finds for person not given shop by builder

Dealing with builders has always been a problem. A lot of people have smooth interactions with builders, and have got properties (whether these be residential or commercial) without any issues; however, it is also true that in many cases, especially in tough times when builders face problems in terms of funding, or being to complete projects, that builders get even more difficult to deal with. For a buyer, there is a huge nuisance in being able to know the current status, or to get the invested money back, or to get the completed property. In such cases, appealing to the police, or going to consumer forums is one way, such as happened in this case (link to article):

As per the brochure, the respondents had also promised to handover the showroom’s possession to the complainant within a period of 2 years. Following this, Rs 23.30 lakh was paid by Ess Enn corporation. However, it was alleged that despite repeated requests, the respondents did not give any timeframe for handing over the showroom’s possession.

Consumer: Compensating lady for non-delivery of flat

The relation between property developers and the normal citizen can become tense very soon; it should be a normal commercial relationship, but in many cases, due to wrong behavior by the property developer, the citizen feels totally helpless. After all, if the property developer delays giving the property or the flat, the owner can feel very distressed. The owner does not want to push the case since he / she does not want to receive the property without the property (and the facilities / surroundings) being completely ready. In such cases, a consumer forum is a good way to receive relief if the property developer is at fault:

Empowering a distraught woman, whose only son died before moving into the house he had so fondly booked, UT consumer forum, in a rare judgment, directed Orbit Apartments to pay damages of Rs 38,000 per month until handing over of possession. The forum, headed by Jagroop Singh Mahal, also awarded Rashmi Mittal of Phase V, Mohali, Rs 25,000 as compensation and Rs 5,500 towards litigation costs.
In its reply to forum’s notice, Orbit Apartments stated it had no objection in handing over possession if the balance amount was paid and IHFL permitted the transfer of the flat in the complainant’s name. IHFL, in turn, pleaded that it had paid all due instalments to the builder on Deepak’s behalf but, according to the agreement, the last instalment was to be paid at the time of the developer handing over possession. The forum then asked the bank to promptly issue a no-objection certificate in favour of Mittal.

Typically, a lot of property developers are not well developed in the manner of how to handle customer grievances and could-shoulder (or otherwise do not give a proper hearing) the customers, leading to a lot of ill-will, and the customers getting badly impacted.