Rights And Liabilities Of Apartment Owners In A Housing Society
Legally Speaking - Property and Housing Laws | By Solicitor Gajanan Khergamker
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— Nishikant Rao
By law, an apartment ownership is attained when a person gets allotted, sold or otherwise get transferred an apartment in his favour and pays the entire agreed amount of consideration together with interest due thereon, if any. The person attains the status of the owner and gets an absolute right.
Every individual apartment-owner is competent by law to file and question the order fixing rateable value or enhancing the same insofar as his flat is concerned, held on ownership basis. Further the apartment-owners occupying authorised flats are entitled on equity to seek demolition of unauthorised construction and occupation in ground floor parking area and non-terrace. The other rights are:
1. The apartment owner may create any encumbrance against the apartment owned by him and the percentage of the undivided interest in the common areas and facilities appurtenant to such an apartment.
2. The apartment owner gets an absolute right to use the common areas and facilities in accordance with the purposes for which they are intended without any hindrance and to resist all attempts of other apartment-owners to interfere, diminish, or partition the common areas and facilities appurtenant to his apartment.
3. The apartment owner gets entitled to the execute ownership and possession of the apartment.
4. The apartment owner gets entitled to a specified percentage of undivided interest in the common areas and facilities appurtenant to such an apartment.
5. The apartment owner gets entitled to the execution and registration of a Deed of the Apartment in his favour within three months of becoming the owner.
6. The apartment owner gets an absolute right to alienate his apartment by way of sale, mortgage, lease, gift, exchange or in any other manner whatsoever.
7. The apartment owner gets entitled to get repaired, maintained or even replaced if some particular items get worn out beyond repairable condition, the common areas and facilities from the joint fund of the association of the apartment-owners.
8. If the multi-storeyed building, in which the apartment is located, is constructed on a leased land, then the lessee or any other person claiming through him, shall grant in respect of the land, a sub-lease in favour of the apartment- owner within three months of the delivery of possession to the apartment- owner by the promoter.
9. The apartment owner shall be entitled to a share in common profits of the property to be distracted, in the same proportion in which he holds the percentage of the undivided interest in the common areas and facilities.
And, there are corresponding duties/ liabilities too for the apartment-owner who
1. Has to ensure that he has made payment of all entire agreed consideration and interest due thereon, if any.
2. He is to execute an undertaking in the prescribed form assuring fullest compliance of the covenants, conditions and restrictions, subject to which such an apartment is owned by the apartment-owner.
3. He is not to do any work which may prejudice the soundness or safety of the property or reduce the value thereof or impair any easement or hereditament.
4. The apartment-owner is not to add any material structure or excavate any additional basement or cellar without first obtaining the consent of all other apartment-owners.
5. The apartment-owner is to bear the burden of common expenses to the same proportion in which he holds the percentage of the undivided interest in the common areas and facilities.
6. He is not to partition or divide any common areas or facilities appurtenant to the apartment
7. He is to cooperate to the fullest extent with the association of the apartment –owners in maintenance, repairs or replacement of any common areas or facilities.
8. He is to ensure that he does not breach any term of the lease of the lessee of the land on which the building has been constructed or the sub-lease granted to him, by the lessee or any other person claiming through him.
9. He also is to ensure timely payment of composition fees on the sublease. He is to remember that any default in payment may entitle the lessee to recover the amount of the composition from the defaulting apartment-owner as an arrear of land revenue
10. The apartment-owner shall not be in a position to exempt himself from the liability of paying proportional contributions to the common expenses by waiver of the use or enjoyment of any common areas and facilities or by the abandonment of his apartment.
11. The apartment-owner shall keep in mind that any unpaid share of the common expenses shall constitute a charge on the apartment, prior to all other charges except only to payments to the Government, municipal taxes and sums payable on the first mortgage of the apartment.
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