Nitika Juneja, 58, a retired executive had bought a flat in an upscale condominium in Gurgaon to enjoy a peaceful life after her retirement. When she moved in, she noticed that the builder is not doing proper maintenance as promised and she would have to spend a lot of money on the upkeep of the lobby of the floor where her flat was, since the lobby was in a very run down condition which could be very embarrassing when her friends or relatives visit. The lobby was directly connected to the entrance of her flat but was part of the common area which was supposed to be maintained by the society’s management body since she has been paying the maintenance charges regularly as fixed by the society. She followed it up many times with the society’s office bearers but yielded no results. A friend advised her to raise the issue in the member’s general meeting along with a few other members. On the day of the meeting, she reached the venue with 25 other flat owners of the society who were facing similar problems. They all were not allowed to enter the meeting venue on the pretext that their deed of apartment has either not been executed or not submitted to the Estate Office of the condominium as required under the Haryana Apartment Ownership Act 1983.
Section 5 (2) of the Haryana Apartment Ownership Act 1983, makes it mandatory for the apartment owner(s) to execute the Deed of Apartment to claim ‘ownership’ of their apartment. Deed of Apartment is also mandatory from Voting Rights perspective and as per the Public Notice issued by Director Town & Country Planning. Any person using property or any part thereof shall be subject to this Act, the declarations and bye-laws to the provisions of this Act.
Deed of Apartment is to be signed in the presence of a Magistrate, sub registrar or any other person competent to administer the oath. Registration of the deed of an apartment is compulsory in nature. It Provides greater transparency; Safeguards the interest of apartment owners; is a Conclusive evidence of lawful ownership ; Easily identify its allocated area along with appurtenant percentage of undivided interest in common areas and facilities ; Prevents fraudulent practices and forgeries; litigations and encumbrances if any.
Conveyance Deed of property is for ownership of the property. The Haryana Apartment Ownership Act 1983 and Rules, only recognizes the Deed of Apartment as the document that secures your title to the apartment. This is particularly applicable for Apartments in group housing colonies. Even if a Conveyance Deed, is there but one must get the Deed of Apartment executed. Each apartment together with its undivided interest in the common areas and facilities, appurtenant to such apartment, shall for all purposes constitute heritable and transferable immovable property within the meaning of any law for the time being in force in the State of Haryana.
Deed of Apartment shall include the description of land or postal address of the property, including other details like the number, page and date of executing declaration and the date and serial number of its registration under the Indian Registration Act, 1908, as the case may be and other references, if any of its filing with any other competent authority; Apartment’s number and other necessary details for identifying the apartment; Apartment’s statement of use, for which apartment is acquired and restriction on its use; Common areas and facilities forming part of the apartment as per the percentage of undivided interest appertaining to the apartment; and any other details as required in consistent with the act.
The deed of apartment can be executed only after the Deed of Declaration has been filed by builders of the property to the authorities, which define the common areas and the owner’s share of rights in those common areas. Therefore, Deed of Declaration is a prerequisite to execute the Deed of Apartment.
The provisions of this Act shall apply to every apartment lawfully constructed for residential purposes for the purpose of transfer of ownership of an individual apartment in a building whether constructed before or after the commencement of this Act. The owner/builder/developer of such property/building shall duly execute and get registered a declaration within a period of ninety days after obtaining part completion/completion certificate under the rules framed.
Any property developer / builder who fails to file deed of declaration within the stipulated time as mentioned under section 2 of this Act, shall be punishable with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend up to three years and shall also be liable for fine of not less than Rupees Fifty Thousand and fine of Rupees Ten Thousand per day if offence continues.