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Thread: Booking of Flats, Be Careful

  1. #1
    Shameem Dallazy a widow has complained to the Editor that she booked a flat in 1995, paid advance payment followed by a few progressive installments totaling Rs. 16,500 but due to some unfortunate suffering in the family she could not pay further. Her request for refund is keeping on lingering the Builders say there are many such cases pending wth them. Let me tell the lady out of her Rs. 16,600 when in next 2-3 years she would get the refund it would hardly be Rs. 1000 or Rs. 1500/- the most.
    Most of the Builders in Karachi are more interested in getting allottees cancelled their booked flats or becoming allottees defaulters. Against a 50 flats complex booking is made in tent offices all over the city from more than a thousand or two thousands. The first biggest income is sale of thousands and thousands of application forms at a non refundable cost of Rs. 100 to Rs. 250/-. Then second biggest income is advance application money from all these thousands. All applicants are issued allotment letters. From here different techniques or cancellation threats are applied desiring people to get their allotments cancelled so the same cancelled one could be sold to new applicants for again cancellation and so on. For example one company advertised “on the rate of dust get gold – get plot @ Rs. 5/- per sq.yard”. This rate of Rs. 5/- was very attractive and easy affordable. As soon as thousands and thousands applied and got allotment letters, came a Bomb that they are to pay Rs. 17,500 within a fortnight towards first installment for construction of an Islamic Library in the Colony. Applicants had applied thinking easy affordable installments and paying in lump sum Rs. 17,500/- was impossible for 95% of them. Moreover in the newspaper advertisement, brochure or in the application form there was no mention if every allottee was to pay any additional Rs. 35,000/- towards Islamic Library. The total cost of plot payable in installments ranged from Rs. 12,000 to 18,000. When approached allottees were told that they had agreed to the terms & condition and it was a condition laid down on the Notice Board and approved by competent authority. Thus people started requesting for refund which in fact from the very beginning was the intent of the Developer.

    I struggled for more than 15 years on the subject. From 1984 to 1998 I wrote to each President, each PM, each Sindh Chief Minister Governor, dozens of MNAs, MPAs whoever in the newspaper stated he was a public servant but no body ever took any interest. 98% never even acknowledged me. I also approached honourable Mr. Ardeshir Cowasjee, Shehri, concerned citizens association, another association situated in Defence etc. My suggestion was that there should be no booking of flat or plot on the Application Form printed by the builders rather it should be on a printed Standard Agreement to be signed both by Developer and applicant indicating each and every term with no hidden or undisclosed term. I further suggested that this Standard Agreement should be prescribed by available at cost with Builders and Karachi Building Control Authority and Builders should be bound to book the flat on this Standard Agreement. Years back when I raised this issue through Sindh Ombudsman I got a copy of the then Model Agreement from KDA/KBCA. Reading its language gave an impress either the person who drafted had no study in Law or was an ex-builder now a government employee. I made some specific pointing about these flaws including that there is a lot of difference between a “Model” Agreement and a Standard Agreement. I was told that the Model Agreement was available at Rs. 50/- which any body can have from the counter and use it. I offered to the Sindh Ombudsman that in the larger interest of the community despite myself being a poor clerk having 100% Rizq-e-Hilal I am ready to spend Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 30,000 and Ombudsman Secretariat may depute one of its ordinary staff member who may buy this Rs. 50/- model agreement and approach any two or three Builders asking them to book (with my money) a flat in his name on this model agreement and see the taste of pudding. I never got any response to this offer. While Karachi Building Control Authority submitted to the Sindh Ombudsman that people can have this model agreement and can get their bookings with private builders the KDA itself offered allotment of plots merely on printed application forms instead of this so-called model agreement. When I enquired in writing from Lyari Development Authority I was told rules of KBCA were not applicable on it (within same one single Karachi city!!!).

    The Application Forms of Builders only contain what an applicant is to do but never tells what the Builder is to do. If a question is made they will tell the applicant to see the Brochure which is not a legal document. In the very fine print an applicant signs “I agree to abide by rules” but those full rules and conditions are in fact never ever known to the applicant. Where any Builder makes it prescribes its language is so even educated people do not understand the practical side of those condition. For example most f the applicants do not understand that these Builders make refund applying a formula of prescribed 5% or 10% of the TOTAL COST OF THE FLAT and NOT 5% of paid amount. For example this widow has paid Rs. 16,500/-. She would be expecting to receive back Rs. 16,500. Whereas the Builder will apply this 5% (usually it is10%) on the Total Cost of the Booked Flat. If flat cost is, say, Rs. 300,000 the Builder would deduct at @5% Rs. 15,000/- and hand over the lady Rs. 1,500/-. This formula when applied on allotment, cancellation, then allotment to a new applicant and cancellation gives a very lucrative continuous income to the builder. This is what the Builder is more interested and this is the reason one sees most of the project for 5 to 10 years still incomplete. There are a very few Builders who do not indulge in this practice but these Builders are out of reach of ordinary man. The other fine print condition most is refund would be when a new purchaser is found by the builder for the cancelled plot. Now the allottee who cancelled his booking has no tool to know if the company had found a new purchaser or not but for years the Builder will tell that so far there is no new purchaser and for this he would hang a banner on the

    These builders are so powerful that never ever any authority like KDA would ever prescribe booking of flats on prescribed one standard agreement. I understand NAB is now a days releasing some public guidelines on the issue. I have not seen these advertisements but only came to know through weekly “Ghair Fauji Column” by Brigadier® Sault Mirza in Daily Khabrain Lahore. if NAB is really interested in the public welfare on this subject then it should consider introducing booking of flats, houses and plots on a standard published agreement where name of builders, parties addresses, total price inclusive of everything, date of completion are entered by hand and rest all terms and conditioned printed keeping interest both of builders and allottees in view. But I know it will not happen.

  2. #2

  3. #3
    Greed of money what else i can say ...

  4. #4
    :cry:
    A Minute They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them, but then an entire life to forget them.

  5. #5
    :cry:
    A Minute They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them, but then an entire life to forget them.

  6. #6

  7. #7
    who will take the responsiblity ? vajpayee ? who can't stand his knee cramps ? or benazir ? who is loving self exile ?

  8. #8

  9. #9
    snaz you are so full of life :lol:

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