More clarity is needed on registration of sale agreement and payment of booking amount in the real estate regulatory bill
The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill 2015 is expected to largely regulate and prevent fraud and cheating in the real estate sector and take care of the interests of homebuyers. However, ambiguity in the bill’s provision to register the sale agreement before paying the booking amount needs more clarity if homebuyers have to actually benefit from it.
Though the Bill was recently approved by the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and is likely to be tabled in the upcoming Budget session of Parliament, its provisions still lack clarity on many important issues. One of them is section 13, which deals with compulsory registration of agreement for sale, ie, builderbuyer agreement.
According to sub section 1 of section 13 of the bill, “A promoter shall not accept a sum more than 10% of the cost of the apartment, plot, or building as the case may be, as an advance payment or an application fee, from a person without first entering into a written agreement for sale with such person and register the said agreement for sale, under law for the time being in force.”
Sub section 2 of section 13 says that the agreement for sale will specify the particulars of the project’s development, including construction of building and apartments, along with specifications and details of internal and external development work and other details such as rates of interest payable by the promoter to the allottee and the allottee to the promoter in case of default.
This sole provision under chapter III – Functions and Duties of Promoter – will ensure multiple benefits to homebuyers and governments. It will ensure consumers’ safety from the first day of entering into a deal with a real estate developer. Various state governments will also be able to earn revenues on these transactions.
Should the booking amount be paid first?
While some legal experts say that signing a sale agreement before paying the booking money will protect homebuyers’ interests, others point out that the booking amount is always paid before an agreement is signed and so the relevant section has to be modified to help homebuyers.
“The best part of this section is that homebuyers will enter into an agreement for sale first and then pay the booking amount. The advantage they get is that they are then aware of each and every detail of the project as well as terms and conditions before making any payment to the developer. This does not happen now. Today, homebuyers pay the booking amount and then wait for several months for the developer to come forward to sign a builder-buyer agreement. In many cases, the builder-buyer agreement is signed after homebuyers pay 30% of the total cost of the project,” says DK Garg, a Supreme Court lawyer.
A former inspector general (revenue) of the Delhi government, who doesn’t want to be named, however contradicts Garg, saying, “In a sale agreement the total cost of the flat as well as the advance money given to the seller is mentioned among other details. So how can the agreement be registered first and the payment be made later? Also, if a builder registers an agreement for sale with a homebuyer for any flat, that property will be blocked and the builder won’t be able to sign any other sale agreement with other parties. What happens if the buyer defaults on paying the booking amount? In my opinion the sale agreement should be registered in the office of the sub-registrar and the booking amount should be paid when the sale agreement is registered. There should be no question of any payment before or after that.”
He adds, “If it is not rectified and made practical, like many other provisions, it will remain only a provision in the law books.”
Protecting consumers’ interests
Realty experts feel registering a sale agreement at the time of paying the booking amount will go a long way in regulating the sector and taking care of homebuyers’ interests.
People who have recently bought properties complain that in the absence of a real estate regulatory act, payment of booking amount, which is normally 10% of the cost of the project, is a “trap” laid out for them by developers. Since a builder-buyer agreement is signed several months after payment of the booking amount, developers exploit it and impose unfair and one-sided conditions on homebuyers in the agreement. If a home buyer protests the developers threaten to forfeit the booking amount.
A case in point is Greater Noida West (Noida Extension). Many home buyers there had booked apartments after paying 10% booking amount when property prices were affordable. Much to their dismay, when construction restarted after a gap of some months after the resolution
Affordable Apartments and Any Property in Noida And Greater Noida there Have many options are available such as Jaypee grees Wish Town, Supertech projects, Mahagun Projects, Amrapali Project Etc.
Sourced From:- HINDUSTAN TIMES 16-01-2016
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