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But some members in the complex have formed a residents’ association which is not yet registered and are threatening me of disconnecting all basic amenities to my flat if I rent it out to bachelors or foreigners. They say they have formulated bylaws prohibiting renting the apartments to unmarried people. Is this legal? Do I have to abide by these silly laws? Please let me know.
Guruprasad
Dear Guruprasad,
No, you definitely do not have to abide by these so-called rules. They are illegal and cannot bind you. If you have any interference from them, you can simply sue for injunction order restraining them and also for suitable compensation.
Dear Madam,
I am planning to purchase a constructed house, site or a flat by borrowing a loan in Mysore or Bangalore. Please give me guidelines that I have to follow at the time of purchase. What are the documents I need to check? Are there any precautionary measures that I have to keep in mind at the time of purchase? Can I pledge the purchased document in the bank for availing loan? As I don’t have any idea in this regard, please clarify
Raghu
Dear Raghu,
All the documents have to be shown both to the bank and your lawyer prior to purchase. After approval, inspection of originals, etc., you have to enter into an agreement and pay some advance. This agreement has to be produced to the bank, after which a loan will be released. Immediately on completion of registration in your name, the sale deed will be kept in the custody of the bank and will be released only after you have repaid the full value of the loan. Upon any continuing default, the bank can attach and sell the property.
Dear Madam,
I had a question regarding property registration in Bangalore city. One of my relatives has a property in Bangalore. We are jointly constructing the house. What is the best way to register the part of the property in my name? If a building is half constructed, can such property be registered?
Vivek, USA
Dear Vivek,
You can execute a power of attorney authorising some one in Bangalore to represent you in the sub registrar’s office and get the property registered jointly in your name. If the building is half constructed, you have to show it as an empty plot or alternatively you have to complete the construction, obtain the khatha extract and then proceed with the registration, in which case the stamp duty on the building will also be collected.
Dear Madam,
I am 63 years old and in the process of selling my flat,which cost Rs eight lakh during the year 2000. Now it is being sold for Rs 20 lakh. The buyer has applied for a loan of Rs 20 lakh and the amount of loan will be mentioned in the sale deed. Please help me with regard to reducing/exempting from the tax on capital gain.
Peter
Dear Peter,
You can avail of indexation benefit. Your deemed cost of acquisition will be more than eight lakh. If you have made some improvements, you can add this to your cost of acquisition. After calculating all this, if you still have a gain, you can re-invest the same in several good bonds to avoid capital gains tax.
Dear Madam,
We are a block of flats that are six in number. Is it required by law that we have a registered Apartment Owners’ Association? If so, are there specific lawyers who deal with the setting up and registration of an Association?
Anne Warrior
Dear Anne,
It is not compulsory to get the association registered. You can run an unregistered association also. But in my opinion, the benefits of getting yourselves registered under the Karnataka Apartment Ownership Act are great and is highly recommended.
Dear Madam,
After my mother in law’s death, her house was sold and the proceeds divided among four children. How will the Capital Gains Act relate to this? Her daughter, my wife, has received a share is repaying a loan on a house bought in our joint names two years ago. Can the capital gain be set off against this home loan?
Shakshi
Dear Shakshi,
The capital gains will be equally divided by all the four vendors. A chartered accountant will be able to guide you about the exact quantum of gains and the way in which the deemed cost of acquisition is calculated.
Capital gains cannot be set off against the home loan you have mentioned.
Dear Madam,
The landlord had given a registered irrevocable GPA to Developer A to develop and sell his four acres of converted land and give the proceeds to him in the year 2000.
The Developer A had developed the same and registered half of the sites in the land to customers with duly approved plan by BMRDA and I am one of the site holders.
My site was registered in 2004. I have a khatha for the same and pay tax to the jurisdictional Gram Panchayat regularly. Since the RTC and mutation was still in the name of the landlord,he had entered into a sale agreement for the same land and given one more GPA to Developer B in 2008. In turn Developer B had sold a site by a fictitious number to a buyer as DC site.
Developer A came to know of this development, and to nullify this act of the landlord and Developer B immediately, as a GPA holder, got registered the entire land into his company’s name by paying appropriate stamp duty running into lakhs within a fortnight of the new development.
He also lodged a trespass complaint against the landlord as he had bulldozed some part of the land, in the jurisdictional police station and got a complaint registered against the landlord by some of the site holders also.
Now, as a site holder, what precautionary measure do I have to take to safeguard my interest?
Ramesh
Dear Ramesh,
It appears to me that adequate steps have already been taken by the developer and there is nothing further that you need to do now.
As you have registered the site in your name in 2004 and have been in possession ever since, constructive notice of your prior right has been established and subsequent transactions will not bind you per se. If any suit is filed, you have to re-assess the situation.
The author is a practising advocate specialising in real estate matters. Email your queries to 1.vatsala@gmail.com. Write to : The Editor, Legal Angle, Deccan Herald, 75, MG Road, B’lore - 560001. (Disclaimer: All the answers are of a general nature. It is advisable to get specific legal advice after furnishing detailed history of individual case.)