Everybody dreams about having their own home from high school. When it finally happens it is easy to feel overwhelmed. There may be a lot of things going through your mind. Right from the colour of the drapes to the wallpaper design, everything has to be perfect in your dream home.
Under all this pressure, buyers usually forget their rights. Knowing your rights as a home buyer can help you in more ways than you can even imagine. After all, RERA is here to protect the interests of buyers and develop so that there are no potential conflicts when buying a property.
To help you through this, we have compiled a list of some lesser-known rights that home buyers have!
1. Right to obtain information
Knowing everything about a property before actually buying is an absolute necessity. Even though this law was still in place before RERA, this created awareness among buyers and it was enforced strictly.
This law states that the homebuyer is entitled to obtain project information regarding sanctioned plans, layout plans, RERA registration number, specifications, and other documents that are duly approved by the competent authority.
2. Right to know the construction schedule
This essentially pushes both the parties to adhere to a construction schedule that they had both agreed on in accordance with the terms and conditions of the agreement for sales.
According to the law, the homebuyer has every right to know the stage-wise time schedule of completion of the project, including the provisions for water, sanitation, electricity and other amenities.
3. The right to claim possession
This is one of the big problems that were addressed by RERA. Due to various reasons, many developers were unable to complete the projects on time as promised and would end up giving up the keys months or years later. This put the buyers under immense pressure since they had to pay their EMI’s long before they actually took possession of the apartment.
This law states that the homebuyer has the right to claim the possession of the plot or apartment upon completion of the period, as agreed upon by the builder and as mentioned in the agreement of sale. Along with this, the buyers’ association is entitled to claim the possession of common areas, as declared by the promoter of the project.
4. Custody of all the necessary documents
Under RERA, an allottee is entitled to have the necessary documents and plans, including that of common areas, after the promoter surrenders the physical possession of the apartment, plot or building.
This law eases the whole process that comes post-completion of a product. Custody of these documents means that the buyer need not run from pole to pole while reselling the property, renovating or doing anything else with the property.
5. Right to claim a refund
This right allows the home buyer to file a complaint under RERA and claim a refund. This refund claim comes with the due interest for the amount paid and even compensation from the builder. This can be done if the builder fails to comply or is unable to give possession of the property as per the terms mentioned in the agreement for sale or due to discontinuance of his business as a developer on account of suspension or revocation of his registration.
Even in cases like these, the builders will be given one more chance to set another reasonable timeline for the delivery of the home. If not complied with this time, the developer is supposed to pay the requisite penalties.
If the buyer is not satisfied with RERA’s decision, they can file a complaint with the Appellate Tribunal.
6. Right in case of any defects
This is one of the most important rights that the buyer got from RERA. This RERA law clearly states that, if there are any structural defects or problems in the quality of the property within 5 years of possession, the builder will have to rectify these damages within 30 days at no extra cost to the buyer.
7. Protection from project delays
This intends to protect the interests of the buyers if their projects get delayed for a long time and they still want to be a part of it.
In cases like that the developer will be liable to pay the buyer the monthly interest on bank loans for every month of delay as per the agreement. It is important to note that this is applicable for under-construction projects too.
All of these laws are here to protect the buyers from any mishaps that may occur during or after the construction of the projects. Along with these laws, RERA has also listed out certain duties for the buyers which are aimed to protect the developers.
We at NautOne believe that property purchase should be a hassle-free affair. We make sure that both the buyer and the seller have a seamless and lovely experience. We ensure that by helping the buyer find the perfect home of their dreams from multiple developers spread across geographies.
All of these services from NautOne are for free. Yes, absolutely free for the buyer who is purchasing the property. Sounds exciting, doesn’t it? You can buzz us at +91 8072696474/ +91 8072946705 or by mailing us at hello@nautone.com for further queries.
Oh, one more thing. Don’t forget to check out our article on Top 4 Real Estate Hotspots in Chennai and the Impact of Metro Rail.