PANAJI
Buyers looking to purchase a house or a flat are usually anxious about two aspects: firstly, it should be delivered in the time-frame committed by the builder, and secondly, there should be no issues regarding the title of the land, because in such cases the buyer is in the dark over the ownership of the real estate. Buyers in Goa face problems on both these fronts. Roland Martins, co-ordinator, Goa Civic & Consumer Action Network (GOACAN), said, “Buyers face a number of issues. For example, some builders don t maintain deadlines, while some others don t make clear to buyers as to who owns the land on which the building stands.” In the bargain, buyers who invest their hard-earned money in real estate end up facing some of the most basic problems. The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 which came into force on May 1 has provisions to deal with such issues. The new Real Estate Act states that allottees can demand return of the amount paid to the builder along with an interest in case the latter fails to give possession of an apartment within a specified period as stated in the agreement. This is in cases when an allottee wants to withdraw from the project. In case an allottee does not want to withdraw from the project, then the builder will be liable to pay the allottee interest for every month until he delivers the apartment. Similarly, the Act provides a lot of protection against defective title of the land. The Act requires a builder to file a declaration at the time of registering the project with the authority stating that he has legal title to the land on which the development is proposed, along with valid documents authenticating the title. Builders are also required to get an insurance on the title of the project under the new Act. However, they have raised concern that such an insurance isn t available in India, as of now. But, insurance companies are expected to come out with a product which will take care of issue.
