Hi,
I am representing a freshly constructed building in Pune consisting of 35 flats in two buildings. All the flats are now fully ocupied and builder has stopped paying all the society maintenance expenses abruptly since 1 Sep 2010 without formally informing the society members and is yet to form the society. The builder had the responsibility of all the expenses towards maintenance of the society for 1 year, as per our verbal agreement during the time of purchase of the flat, for which he charged us Rs. 10,000 in cash, which ended on 31 Aug 2010, but was supposed to bear the expense of society formation which we believe is now been conveniently neglected by the builder, as the builder is not heeding to our request for a meeting to discuss on this matter. Please advice on the following from legal aspects:
- 100% of society members are ready to take the legal route to form the society irrespective of the builders co-operation, can we go ahead and apply for society registration independently with consent of all society members?
- We feel, the builder wont support us in the formation of the society as he is planning to increase the FSI through construction of additional flat in the fifth floor of A building, 3 flats are constructed with a provision of 1 more but (not sure of the actual reasons) the builder claims he hasnt received permission for additional construction, but is in the process of obtaining the same and will construct the remaining portion eventually. Also Building B has four floors and he had provisioned for six floors as per the initial prospectus. In light of the above aspect can the builder create hurdles for formation of the society?
- Builder has charged all members Rs. 10,000 towards society maintenance for one year in cash without providing any documented proof for the same. Can the flat owners have any legal right to ask for the maintenance expenses made by the builder during this one year? Also can the builder abruptly stop all payments to society common services for which he was paying for one year without formal intimation to society members in writing and without initiating the society formation process?
- Some of the local lawyers we have consulted have adviced us that we can form society irrespective of builder involvement, and have quoted the cost of society formation in the range of 2500-3000 per flat member (i.e. for society of 35 flat members). Can you guide on the prevalent cost range in Pune for conducting such legal work?
Thanks & Regards.