The old saying that investment in real estate is the best, as it yields the best returns. It might have been good and true for age-old people, but the present generation has fallen into the trap of false real estate boom and lost their hard-earned money and peace of mind.
There have been numerous instances wherein the salaried working class is repaying the loan for the house which merely stands on paper and can be seen only in the builder’s brochure. Besides this paying rent per month for house to live in addition to their woes.
The Noida Authority has named as many 91 housing projects being built by reputed builders like Unitech, Supertech, Omaxe, Logix, 3C, Antriksh, Paras, Prateek, IVRCL, Amrapali etc have done fraud on home buyers.
Famous builders of Gurugram who have seen jolly good times in real estate like DLF, Unitech, Earth Infrastructure, Today Homes, ERA etc are facing tough times dealing with homebuyers who are now taking these builders head-on.
Builders of high repute as mentioned above have also diverted the money collected for the proposed housing project to different pockets. This hard-earned money of home buyers is being used by the builders and companies to pursue their business expansions which in majority of cases has failed drastically, hence eroding the money meant for the construction of housing project.
Social media platforms like google groups, WhatsApp, Facebook, etc. have helped the aggrieved homebuyers to get along and take on the fraudulent and cheater builder. There is news of protest in Gurugram, Noida, Ghaziabad, Indrapuram, etc. on a daily basis.
One thing that most would acknowledge is that these defaulting builders are devious and often succeed in persuading agitating homebuyers not take any action on a false pretext.
FAITH OF HOMEBUYERS BETRAYED BY GOVERNMENT AND ITS AGENCIES
One must understand that it would have been extremely difficult for these builders to fraud or misappropriate funds had the government agencies played their role as expected. On the contrary corrupt officers these government agencies like Town Planning, Forest, Fire, Public Works Department and other approving agencies like NOIDA, HUDA, GDA, etc. benefited immensely by turning a blind eye.
The government can come up with any number of legislations like RERA etc. nothing would change because executing agencies and their working style are still the same. These builders connive with officials of these regulatory authorities and easily evade the action against themselves.
Homebuyers who have been taking on their builders for non-delivery of flats or delivering much less than as promised will agree that they first appeal to government authorities, then to local leaders, MLA’s, M.P, etc. They write their pain agony and trauma to the Chief Minister and even to Prime Minister. But the buck stops nowhere.
RESORT TO LEGAL REMEDIES AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE
After having gone through the procedural drama done by the agencies, homebuyers then make police complaints or move to consumer courts and to superior courts. Please note the system which we are living in right now does not run on auto mode. It needs to be driven, wrongdoers if at all can be tamed and controlled by the courts of this country. We have seen mighty people like Subrata Roy, Chandras of Unitech, Amarpali etc being brought to books by courts only. So homebuyers who all are contesting for a cause that affects their lives should take on legal discourse as early as possible. However other things like dharna, protest etc can be done parallel.
CORE GROUP OF PROTESTING HOMEBUYERS SHOULD KEEP EYE ON POLICE INVESTIGATION AND COURT PROCEEDINGS
One could easily make out how these erring builders get bail quickly or how they evade the investigation. There are numerous examples in the near past wherein investigating agencies make the mockery of investigations which makes it difficult for the courts to keep builders behind the bars. It is simple for these builders to manage the police and hire highly paid legal minds which cost a penny, as compared to the amount which is to refund to homebuyers or to be invested to complete the pending construction work.
PIECE OF ADVISE
Homebuyers, by getting the police case registered or filling court case feels their battle is won but it is not the case. Do rope in a good active legal mind or professional who knows how these investigative agencies work and how they kill the investigations. This would keep track of wrongdoings in the investigation by police and also be able to appear in court so that homebuyer’s version can also be put forward while the matter is argued in the court.
LawExpalined.in is an initiative by Advocate Pankaj Yadav, who is a practicing advocate at Punjab & Haryana High Courts & Delhi High Court. LawExplained.in tries to focus on the matters that affect the common public at large. Advocate Pankaj Yadav has been a police officer with Delhi Police for good long 13 years and has served in various police stations and crime branch as an investigating officer. He can be reached at +91-97-1179-1179 or pankajyadav.legal@gmail.com
