THE NEXUS BETWEEN THE BANK AND THE BUILDER MAFIA.
I had purchased a flat in chennai during April 2006 to be constructed from a reputed builder by name M/s.KG Builders and Developers private limited through a recommendations from ICICI bank Home finder which was confirmed by the builder that the whole of project was financed by the ICICI Bank and after registering the UDS by paying the amount as per the builders agreement and the registered document was collected by the builder from the registrar office which the builder handed over to me and I submitted the documents to the bank and they made me to sign the Home loan agreement and the loan amount of Rs.72Lakhs was paid directly to the builder without intimating to me which I protested it through a letter under RPAD dated 2.8.2006. The EMI was started from the month of August 2006 which I was regular in honoring it though the construction has yet to start. The price of the property jacked up to 150% from Rs.3250.00 per sq feet to Rs.8100.00 per sq feet during February 2007 and the builder came to me to re-transfer the property which has yet to be started for construction. I refused to entertain him and he warned me that he will withhold the possession and I have to struggle for decades to get it. I had full confidence in the judicial system which I refused to bugle down to his threat and only request him to start the construction at the earliest. During April 2007, I received a call from the Manager of the ICICI bank that I had not submitted the UDS sale deed of the property which I got puzzled and started writing letters under RPAD and lodging online complaints to the bank and also to the banking ombudsman from April 2007 to December 2007 and only during the 15 December 2007 I received a letter from the bank asking me to handover the UDS Sale deed which I preferred to be answered through my counsel and it was replied suitably. The construction of the flat was started only during March 2007 and completed during April 2008 i.e. Ground plus three floors with twelve dwelling houses except mine and the builder started allotting the flats to the owners and when I contacted the builder he refused to hear me though I had meticulously paid all the builder amount as well as I was meticulously honoring the EMI’s to the bank. When there was no response from the builder I sooth up a legal notice to the builder with a copy to the ICICI bank to hand over the flat or face legal action during April 2008 only to be amazed in having received a letter from the Bank addressing to the builder with a copy to me with the following text:
“The property has been financed vide loan account no:xxxxxxx. The sale deed is in the possession of the customer which he had obtained from yourselves. The matter is yet to be resolved. In light of the above and with reference to our previous letters, we insist you not to hand over the possession of the said property until a written confirmation from us.”
My advocate replied to this letter by citing all my previous letters and even the reply of December 2007 and he suggested a legal way out by willing to register the hypothecation to the registrar and also accepting in bearing the charges for the said registration and also warning the bank if it did not come forward we have no other option but to move the court as I was meticulously paying my EMI’s regularly. Neither the bank nor the builder came forward for any amicable solution hence we have to move the state consumer forum and the matter is still pending with the Tamilnadu State Consumer Forum as the bank and the builder used all the rules of the law book to drag the matter and I persistently following the court though I never blink in not paying my EMI. During February 2009, as the court proceedings were on and only the builder had filed the vakalat and the bank has yet to file and the court had directed us to again send the intimation to the bank, the bank along with the builder inserted the name of the bank in my flat, which prompted me to write letters under RPAD from March 2009 till July 2009 informing them of my regular discharging of my liability and if they did not remove the name board and also online complaints and complaints to the banking ombudsman where no one seems to listen me and during August 2009 when nothing was being happened I stopped paying the EMI and only then the bank officials came and met me and I briefed them and assured them that I am ready to close the loan immediately on the condition that they should ensure the completion of the flat and to hand over the possession to me only to hear from the officials that I have to listen to the builder as I will not be able to face the organizations and have to concede the defeat, still I stick to my request but nothing happened and I do not want to take risk by paying any amount to the bank and as on date I had discharged nearly Rs.56 Lakhs to the builder and the Bank. During November 2009 I received a loan recall notice which was replied through RPAD accepting to pay the notice amount of Rs.78 Lakhs only with a request that the bank should ensure the completion of the flat and to hand over the possession to me. Nothing happened even this time. During 7th July 2010 the bank sent me a notice under SARFAESI ACT which was replied on 9th July 2010 with an assurances that I am ready to close the loan amount provided the bank ensures the completion of the flat and to hand over the possession to me, but the bank chosen to appoint an CONCILIATION PROCESS which we attended it and apprised the conciliator and the pathetic is that the conciliator had yet to pronounce its judgment. Till now the bank and the builder was absent from the proceedings in the consumer court and when the matter was to be adjourned to set exparte the bank and builder, the bank came forward and filed its version through the same conciliator during December 2010 and the builder was set exparte. At present the matter is posted for argument and I am expecting the judgment at the earliest and hope so. As it is, during March 2012 the bank moved the DRT under OA with the IA plea to attach the property and to liquidate it to realize its amount and I engaged the same advocate who appeared by filling our version and on the hearing date i.e. today when the bank advocate asked for the IA the honorable judge refused to accept it as the honorable judge questioned the bank how they process the loan amount without obtaining the original sale deed and the honorable judge adjourned the matter for 30days for further hearing. On the same day in the evening the bank officials came to my residence with summon from TAMILNADU STATE LEGAL SERVICES AUTHORITY calling me to appear before the Lok Adalat for a compromise. When I contacted my advocate he told me the MNC bank indulges in such tricks to get escape from the clutches of the law and advised me to ignore such notice.
Sir, I have no pain in losing the property as well as the amount I had paid to the bank and builder but I want to nail the wrong doers. In my case it is obvious that the bank is helping the builder in grasping the property which was faced with the stiff opposition from me. Now I am calling the general public and the activist to rise up and to fight this menace which is growing as the MNC’s grow. I came forward in fighting this menace but two of my co owner had to surrender their flat by getting only Rs.5 Lakhs from the builder. More over the UDS charged by the builder in the agreement was Rs.48 Lakhs for 700Sq Ft but actual the guideline values comes to only Rs.23 Lakhs and the sale deed was raised only for Rs.23 Lakhs which means that the builder had converted a black money of more than Rs.3 crores from this project for which the bank had supported the builder. I need your feedback and what should be my next move to curtail such menace which is not good for our country.
Thanks!
MOHAMMED NAZEER AHMED
0 97909 99581
