MahaRera has come to the rescue of homebuyers whose investments were stuck in a stalled 17-storey building in Kandivli (west), asking them to take over the redevelopment project.
The builder abandoned the project in 2016 after accepting the booking amount from the buyers and constructing only the skeleton of the structure till the sixth floor.
A group of homebuyers, worried that the builder, Jayant Mehta, had not even executed sale agreements with them, approached the state real estate regulatory authority last year. On January 21, MahaRera member Vijay Satbir Singh passed an order asking the complainants to explore the possibility of reviving and completing the project on their own.
Ajit Jain, a buyer, said he had booked a flat in January 2014 as he knew the builder . “I paid over Rs 1 crore for a 478 sq ft flat,” he said. “The project was meant to be a redevelopment project and he commenced work only at the end of 2014. But, the project came to a standstill by 2016 after he had built only six floors.” The project was meant to have 61 flats.
Four of the buyers had sought directions from MahaRERA to the respondent, builder Jayant Mehta, to execute and register the agreement for sale of flats booked by them in Samaj Darshan building in Parekh Lane.
“I sought registration of the agreement with the builder. But the builder dilly-dallied. Therefore, I sought the return of my booking amount,” said Jain. He said as there was no progress in the project, he and other buyers approached MahaRERA. “There are several home buyers and we do not even know the number of homebuyers,” he said. “Besides, there are tenants of the original building, who too have rights to flats, as it was redevelopment project.”
Advocate Avinash Pawar, who represented the buyers, said the project was meant to have 17 floors and 61 flats.
“The complainant homebuyers had paid about Rs 4 crore and they were left with no option as they only had allotment letters with them after paying the booking amounts,” Pawar said.
He said the RERA Act empowered buyers like no other law.
“It is only RERA Act that has the provision where the allottees can take up the project,” he said.
He said the MahaRERA order would have a deterrent effect.
“In all other forums, the litigation would have gone on and on and there would be no means to revive the project or for the allottees to take up the project,” he said. “This is a warning to the builder that the project would go out of his hands. The builder also has to give details of other allottees to these homebuyers so that an association of allottees can contemplate action under Section 7 of the RERA Act to complete the project.”
During the hearing, it was noticed that the validity period of the project had lapsed and the builder had not uploaded the occupancy certificate on the MahaRERA website and so the order asked the promoter of the project to apply to MahaRERA for extension of the project or to take any other action to revive the project giving a definite timeline for its completion.
