Because
of high scarcity of land, purchasing a flat becomes a lifetime dream of many
people. Among them some are purchasing their residence by expensing their whole
savings. On the contrary, who have land, they handover that to the developer to
construct building.
However,
before entering any contract with the constructor, the landlord should be
informed about the profile of the builder to whom s/he is decided to transfer
his/her property. In accordance with the Real Estate Development and Management
Act 2010; every building construction company must be registered. In addition,
no developer entity can advertise or make a contract to sell their flats before
getting approval from the concerned city development authority i.e RAJUK.
The
owner and the developer should execute a contract regarding the construction of
the building; where the portion of the property, any transaction between the
parties, settlement procedure between the parties, share and distribution of
the flats, period of work and other relevant matters will be determined. Moreover,
the landlord will have to execute a power of attorney in favour of the
developer to sell his/her part of the property.
Be aware before purchasing a flat
Before
purchasing a flat, the purchaser should scrutiny all the necessary documents
including title deed, proper approval from concerned authorities, detail design
of the building and compliance with the national building code and building
construction rule, ingredients of the construction etc. The developer will
deliver a list of fittings and fixtures to be used in the proposed flat. Every
land developer is bound to provide all these documents to the prospective
customer. The structure of the house must be designed properly by an
architecture and the construction must be done under the direct supervision of skilled
structure and civil engineers. Additionally, the soil upon which the
construction will be done must also be tested by the experts.
Furthermore,
the procurer shall take caution about any claim over the property, legal
complexity, encumbrances etc. The buyer should
investigate the safety, security, facilities and other technical matters of the
building as well as the utility services like lift, garage, gas, water,
electricity, telephone line, fire extinguisher, drainage system etc.
Both
the contracting parties should determine detail terms-conditions and
rights-responsibilities of them in the contract deed. The sale deed must
mandatorily be registered and the contract for sale deed (Bainanama) must also be registered. However, there is a cardinal principle of land
transfer that no person can hand over a better title than he himself has.
Therefore, the seller has no power to sell if his/her title is not absolute.
Hence, an intending buyer should always be aware of it. If s/he buys the flat
from the authorized person of the owner then the power-of-attorney document
must be verified in order to check his/her extent of authority to sell that
property.
Rights of the purchaser
The
developer will have to deliver the chosen flat within the agreed time. Even, s/he
cannot change the design without prior permission of the authority and the
buyer is not obliged to pay more money beyond the agreement. Nevertheless, if
both the parties want to vary the condition(s) of the contract, they can do it
amicably and mutually. However, the developer is bound to maintain the building
up to 1 year. Further, s/he will repair the flat till two years for any
construction default.
After
the payment, the developer is bound to deliver the possession of the furnished
and agreed size of flat to the purchaser as well as register a deed in this
regard. If the measurement varied from the contract then the value will be
adjusted within three months by the concerned parties. The buyer should always transact
the money through banking channel. If the purchaser fails to pay the money or
any installment then the builder can eject him/her by serving a 60 days preceding
notice. In that case, the seller will has to return the received money through
cheque within three months. However, the defaulter has a scope to pay the
default installment by paying 10% extra interest to the seller. Nonetheless,
the buyer cannot take this chance for more than three times.
Similarly,
if the developer fails to deliver the possession within the specified time then
s/he will have to return all the received money with necessary compensation.
However, if the damaged amount is not settled in the contract then the amount
will be 15% of the paid amount. Again, if the buyer wants to cancel the
contract then the seller will get 10% of the paid amount as compensation.
Relief against grievance
If
any discrepancy has been taken place between the seller and the buyer regarding
the violation of the terms and conditions of the contract i.e cancellation of
allotment of flat without reasonable notice, construction beyond approved
design, using of inferior standard materials to construct, creating
encumbrances upon the property etc. then first the parties will have to try to
settle the matter amicably. Alternatively, the affected party can complain to
the registering authority about such discrepancy.
However,
if the parties are failed to resolve the matter by mutual understanding then it
will be determined by arbitration tribunal constituted under the Arbitration
Act, 2001. It is better to insert the detail provisions of arbitration into the
main sale contract, otherwise it may create complexity and the parties may not
be able constitute an arbitration tribunal. In that case, after the expiry of
30 days, the purchaser can file suit to claim damages or to enforce/cancel the
contract before the competent court.
In
addition, the buyer also can bring criminal action under the mentioned Act to
the court of first class magistrate to punish the violator. However, the court
will follow summary trial procedure to conclude this type of dispute. Nonetheless,
the culprit can be jailed for highest three years or slapped with Tk 20 lakh in
contravening any of the provision of this law.
