Dear Madam,
My sister purchased a site at Neelagadranahalli, Yeswanthpur Hobli, from an employee of HMT factory. The seller told my sister that it was a clear deed and there was no need to worry. After my sister purchased the site from the seller, she wanted to construct the house there so the engineer went to the BDA office to get the plan sanctioned. However, the BDA people told him that the site has been withdrawn from the HMT Layout society. My sister is paying the tax regularly. Please let me know what is the procedure to be followed now? Whom to contact to solve the matter?
Venkatesh
Dear Venkatesh,
If the site has been de notified, there is no problem. If not, the registration is not valid if done after the preliminary notification for acquisition. You should get a copy of the final notification and first ascertain the true status of the acquisition.
Dear Madam,
I have seen a flat in Coffee Board layout. The owner has given a POA to a builder and the sale of the flat is marketed by a different person. He says the flat does not come under BDA, butcomes under CMC. My doubts are: 1) How do I know that the property has not been notified by BDA?
2) The flat has ground + 3 floors and the ground floor is for a bank. Can CMC sites have both commercial and residential houses?
3) Can I register a CMC flat?
4) what is the market value in this area?
5) The document says the second purchaser has formed a layout and sold site no 1 and 2 (out of the total area) to the current owner, but has not shown the layout. Will I have to check out this detail?
6) The agreement between the owner and the builder says 58% to the builder and 42% to the owner. How to identify this partition?
Lakshminarayan
Dear Lakshminarayan,
A check can be carried out in the BDA Land Acquisition Office to ascertain if there are any acquisitions on the property. The sanctioned plan will show if the building is for residential or commercial use. You can register the flats in CMC area now. The market value has to be ascertained locally. The old layout plan is important but very often it is not furnished. You could ask the builder to furnish the sharing agreement or alternatively get the owner to sign as consenting witness in your agreement. The owner can also give a No Objection Letter for the sale of your flat by the builder.
Dear Madam,
I would like to know the importance of the sanction plan. The engineer who has been hired to construct our house says that we can submit any plan for the sanction plan and later we can decide on the architectural plan. Is this correct ? Or the engineer is just expediting his construction by this ?
Please let me know the implications of this because the sanction plan will definitely be different from the architectural plan.
Abdul
Dear Abdul,
It is not proper to get a sanctioned plan approved and construct a totally different building. You will find it difficult to sell the house at a later date. Some deviations are permitted (up to 50% for residential buildings upto 2004), but this does not apply to buildings built later. My advice is to follow the sanctioned plan with deviations within permissible limits.
Dear Madam,
My husband had purchased a site in a private layout under a registered sale deed in Begur gram panchayat limits during 1994. Many houses have been built in this layout. The layout is DC converted from agriculture to non-agriculture. We intend to give the above site to my brother-in-law who wants to construct a house seeking loans from HFCs or banks.
Kindly advise me as regards the ideal method to a transfer of our site to my brother-in-law and also regarding the eligibility of housing loan from the HFC's/Banks for the site in question.
Swarna Shree P
Dear Swarna Shree,
You should execute a gift deed (by paying regular stamp duty on market value) or sale deed in the name of your brother-in-law. A bank loan on a converted site should not be a problem.
Dear Madam,
I booked a site at International Airport City project. I entered into an agreement with the developers and paid half the amount as advance with balance to be paid after formation of the layout and at the time of registration.
As per agreement the site was to be handed over by January 2005. However on regular enquiry I was told that delay is because of BMRDA approval.
Now they maintain that it is not forthcoming as their land has come under the green belt area and offer me either to wait and watch, or to take the reimbursement. On a personal visit to the site location, I see plenty of activity on the surrounding properties. It is unlikely that those properties have got the go-ahead and this very project is stuck.
Please tell me how I can verify the ground reality.
What are the risks involved if I wait? Can I go ahead with registration of my piece of land even though no basic development has been done by the developer?
Naveen
Dear Naveen,
The BMRDA approval will not be given for lands in the green areas or agricultural zones. You can approach the BMRDA office for more clarity. The BMRDA approvals which were stalled for sometime, has now been resumed. It is never advisable to register a land without proper development agreement and proper approvals.
Dear Madam,
I have a question regarding land that I purchased in Chinnapana Halli Main road. It got registered in my name and a bank loan was also approved for which I am paying EMI.
Recently we went to CMC – Mahadevapura for checking CDP. We came to know that the land is under the green belt. And we didn’t pay betterment charges (earlier land owner did not pay the same because the government was not allowing) and we don’t have conversion certificate too.
Can we pay betterment charges now and get conversion certificate to start construction in that land? The land does not belong to any layout. It is an independent land of size 30x40 that I bought directly from the owner.
J Rama Krishna
Dear J Rama Krishna,
If you have a registered sale deed before 2004, you can pay the regularisation fee (provided it is not in the green belt) and then approach the new BBMP for building plan sanction. You will still not get the conversion certificate, but you will have good title. If your site is in the green belt, it will continue to be a revenue site. Any building you put up on it will be unauthorised.
Dear Madam,
We own 7.5 acres agricultural land in Kumta taluk of the North Kanara district. We are based in Mumbai and the land is lying idle for a few years now.
We desire that the land should be given to some local resident to cultivate, in a purely temporary arrangement.
1.What documentation should be made?
2. Does it require registration?
3.Can the cultivator claim title to the said land?
4.What precautions should be taken generally?
Ganesh Bhadri
Dear Ganesh Bhadri,
Agricultural lands cannot be given on lease, except when there are local enactments to the contrary.
A cultivator can claim tenancy rights. My advice is to hand it over to trusted persons who will vacate when you want the land back. Otherwise you should cultivate it personally or only give it for cultivation to very close family members.
Dear Madam,
I have a plot of land at Gottegere panchayat, on the Bannerghatta road, behind St Johns Dental college. NICE authority is going to acquire the land for constructing a road. Will we get compensation as per market rate? The original land owners had given power of attorney to the seller and the land was transferred by the seller to my name and is registered in Gottegere panchayat. The land owners have already collected their money due from the seller. Now they are trying to claim compensation stating that they have cancelled the Power of attorney. Are such lies held valid by the Acquisition Officer? Can the land owners claim compensation now on false grounds?
B Hariharan
Dear B Hariharan,
The land acquisition officer normally relies on the last registered document to determine who the land owner is. If there is any dispute about ownership, it has to be determined by a court of law.
The author is a practising advocate specialising in real estate matters. You may e-mail your questions to 1.vatsala@gmail.com.
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Disclaimer: All the answers provided herein are of a general nature.
It is advisable to get specific legal advice after furnishing detailed history of each individual case.
