Shelke (Owner) 26 April 2014

Harassment by member living below me with regards to water l

Hi,

I own a 1RK flat in mumbai. I had purchased this flat, on the first floor, some 10 months ago and as soon i moved in the person living below me (on the ground floor) approached me saying that he has issues with water leakage in the bathroom and inspite of telling the owner before us, it has not been fixed. Since the problem seemed genuine, we agreed to help him with the repairs and pay half of the cost incurred, as per the rules of the society. But the member refuses to shell out his half and wants us to fix the whole thing.
Since he is an employee of the PWD, he is threatening us with consequences. he threatened us that he would complain that the leakage was affecting a essential support pillar and that we are not fixing it. He and his wife are constantly approaching us and the society offices and even when we tell them that we are ready to get the repair work done, they are just delaying it(It has already been delayed by 10 months). It is just a huge source of harassment to us.
so, my question is :
a) what can i do to make sure that the below flat owner does not raise a complaint saying that we are delaying even though we have been in support of the repairs from the beginning (the society is willing to support us) ??
b) Even if he raises a complaint with the concerned department, what will be theoptions available to us and what all legal action we can take to make sure that he pays for the repairs as well as for harassment and mental agony ??

Let me know if you need any details

Reply Follow

7 Replies

Shelke (Owner) 01 May 2014

Hi, can anyone please tell me the options available to me in this case ??

Shelke (Owner) 01 May 2014

Hi, can anyone please tell me the options available to me in this case ??

Dr. MPS RAMANI Ph.D.[Tech.] (Scientist/Engineer) 01 May 2014

Which rule of your Society says that the lower floor member should share the cost of repairing the leakage? The leakage may be due to defect in the building or due to any work done by the upper floor member. If the defect was in the building Society should repair it. If the damage was due some work done on the upper floor the upper floor member shall be responsible. The damage would have been caused by the previous member. But when you purchased the flat you should have been careful to look into all these things before purchasing the flat. When the flat was transferred to your name all the liabilities also would have been transferred with it.

It is the Municipality that is concerned with all these things and not PWD. Any way you ignore the threats and face them only if and when they actually come.

Recently in one Mithul Enclave Co-operative Housing Society the lower floor member filed complaint against the upper floor member and the Society before the Consumer Forum. The Forum took action against the Society and let off the upper floor member scot-free. You are safe.

Shelke (Owner) 04 May 2014

Originally posted by : Dr. MPS RAMANI Ph.D.[Tech]
	Which rule of your Society says that the lower floor member should share the cost of repairing the leakage? The leakage may be due to defect in the building or due to any work done by the upper floor member. If the defect was in the building Society should repair it. If the damage was due some work done on the upper floor the upper floor member shall be responsible. The damage would have been caused by the previous member. But when you purchased the flat you should have been careful to look into all these things before purchasing the flat. When the flat was transferred to your name all the liabilities also would have been transferred with it. It is the Municipality that is concerned with all these things and not PWD. Any way you ignore the threats and face them only if and when they actually come. Recently in one Mithul Enclave Co-operative Housing Society the lower floor member filed complaint against the upper floor member and the Society before the Consumer Forum. The Forum took action against the Society and let off the upper floor member scot-free. You are safe.

First of all....thank for your reply....its very helpful....Its a general rule of the society, so i have been told by the society secretary....no work has been done and this problem was prior to us buyingthe house but we failed to notice this...

Dr. MPS RAMANI Ph.D.[Tech.] (Scientist/Engineer) 05 May 2014

As I stated the lower floor member is not liable to share the cost. The lower floor member will not be able to do anything. You need not worry. Let your Society worry about it. If at all things get precipitated (very unlikely) come here then.

You are saying that the lower floor member is refusing to share the cost. Did you get an estimate for the repair? Who gave you the estimate? Will that party undertake the job? Do they guarantee that the leakage will stop? Most probably even after the repair the leakage may not stop. What will be your position then? Will the lower floor member stop complaining against you? He will not. You will be back to square one after spending all the money.

Is there anything in writing in this regard among you, the lower floor member and the Society. If not, you keep quiet and wait until something comes in writing. If and when something comes in writing from the lower floor member, from the Society, from the Municipality or his PWD come here again with that letter. I shall tell you what to do. Nobody can do anything to you without a written warning.

Shelke (Owner) 20 May 2014

Hi....sorry...i have been away for some time....yes...i have gotten an estimate for the repair....it has been verbally said that the repair should fix the leakage. but nothing has been written....neither among any of us...

Thank you for the advice....i will do just as you say and keep quiet and wait for him to approach or remain as is and if i get any written warning, i will come here :).

(Guest)

let the society inspect it,get the estimate and repair done by their own resource. you just do only the payment thing if it ends up as your liability .

if the problem and harassment continues still after, just point the fingers on society..

just dont involve private or outside plumber who has little knowlege on the existing pipeline setup in the community.