• Developer has not started the project and has not refunded the booking amount

The developer in question sold commercial office space to me in NOIDA, U.P. in 2013. What is the way forward to get my money back?

Regards
Atul
Asked 6 years ago in Property Law
Religion: Hindu

2 answers received in 10 minutes.

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17 Answers

Hello,

File a case in the consumer forum.

Regards

Swarupananda Neogi
Advocate, Kolkata
2973 Answers
6 Consultations

1) issue legal notice to developer to refund your money as period of 5 years have elapsed since payment was made to him still work on project not yet started

2) if builder fails to refund filecomplaint against builder before consumer forum seek refund of money paid with interest

3) take the plea that office space was purchased for personal use

4) also claim litigation costs and compensation for mental torture undergone by you

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
96426 Answers
7773 Consultations

Dear Sir,

Just issue a legal notice and then file suit for recovery of money. Sample money suit is as follows.

=========================================================================================

PLAINT FILED UNDER ORDE 7 RULE 1 OF CIVIL PROCEDURE CODE, 1908

The plaintiff submits as follows:

1. The address of the parties are correctly set forth in the cause title given above and also the address of the plaintiff as care of his counsel Sri. Kishan Dutt Kalaskar, (Retd. Judge) Advocate, No. 7, 6th Cross, Malleshwaram, Bangalore - 560 003.

2. The plaintiff submits that, himself and defendant were close friends. Defendant is co-son-in-law of plaintiff cum none other than the husband of full-blood related sister of wife of plaintiff. Though they originally belongs to State of Andhra Pradesh, both of them maintained residential houses in Bengaluru City. The plaintiff and defendant were also working in different companies during the years 2014 to 2016. The defendant and his family members were maintaining cordial relationships and having visiting terms to each others houses out of love and affection as they were close friends as well as related to each other as described above. The defendant and his wife pleaded to help them financially as they were not having sufficient funds to run their family. They voluntarily agreed to pay interest at the rate of 24% per annum. The defendant further agreed to repay the amounts whatever paid by the plaintiff with interest at the rate of 24% per annum soon he is out of financial crisis at the maximum by the end of 2016. Believing the words of defendant and his wife and at the pressure brought out by plaintiff’s wife, the plaintiff in order to maintain records transferred the following amounts from his account No. [deleted] standing at ICICI Bank Banashankari Branch, Bengaluru City to the account of defendant bearing account No. [deleted] standing at ICICI Bank, Kukatpally Branch, Hyderabad. The plaintiff transferred the following amounts and calculated interest at the rate of 24% from the date of payment till 30.04.2018. The plaintiff made a demand in the year 2017 orally but the defendant tried to avoid phone calls of the plaintiff. The plaintiff also made personal attempts to recover the said amounts with interest. The defendant tried to postpone the repayment on several unbelievable and unacceptable grounds. Since the plaintiff and defendant were close friends and so also related to each other as such plaintiff considered it as a sensitive matter and did not want to make it a big issue among his family members. Since the defendant was avoiding contact with the plaintiff as he shifted to Hyderabad City. Thus the plaintiff smelt some fishy and got issued a legal notice dated 01.08.2017 to the defendant. The copy of the same is herewith produced is Document No.1. The original postal receipt dated 01.08.2017 is herewith produced as Document No.2. On service of such notice, the defendant talked with the plaintiff and assured him to return the amount within short period. The internet accounts statements of plaintiff bank having transferred the following amounts, all together with, are herewith produced as Document No.3 (total 10 pages). The particulars of transaction number, date of transfer, amount of transfer, interest calculated till 30.04.2018 and total amount are here under furnished for kind ready reference of Hon’ble Court.

Sl. No.

(1)

Date of Transfer

(2)

Amount Transfer

(3)

Interest up to 30.04.2018

(4)

1 11.07.2015 Rs. 8,250/- Rs. 5,445/-

2 14.08.2018 Rs. 5,500/- Rs. 3,520/-

3 31.08.2015 Rs. 5,500/- Rs. 3,520/-

4 04.09.2015 Rs. 15,000/- Rs. 9,300/-

5 11.09.2015 Rs. 3,000/- Rs. 1,860/-

6 03.12.2015 Rs. 30,000/- Rs. 16,800/-

7 11.12.2015 Rs. 16,000/- Rs. 8,960/-

8 07.01.2016 Rs. 33,000/- Rs. 17,820/-

9 20.01.2016 Rs. 71,000/- Rs. 38,340/-

10 06.02.2016 Rs. 7,000/- Rs. 3,640/-

11 12.02.2016 Rs. 5,000/- Rs. 2,600/-

12 03.03.2016 Rs.1,80,000/- Rs. 90,000/-

13 17.03.2016 Rs. 4,000/- Rs. 2,000/-

14 05.04.2016 Rs. 7,000/- Rs. 3,360/-

Rs.3,90,250/- Rs.2,07,165/-

Grand Total (3) + (4) = Rs. 5,97,415/-

(Rupees Five Lakhs Ninety Seven Thousand and Four Hundred and Fifteen Only)

3. The plaintiff further submits that, the defendant though admitted his liability but he is not ready to repay the said amount which comes to Rs. 5,97,415/-. As per the agreed terms the defendant ought to have repaid the above amounts with interest on or before 31.12.2016. Since defendant was adornment in repaying the said amounts inspite of several phone calls and personal contacts, at last the plaintiff having no alternative got issued legal notice on 01.08.2017. Inspite of that the defendant though admitted his liability but not sure as to when he will repay the said amount. The plaintiff on every weekend went on calling the defendant and requested him to repay the amount. Sometimes the plaintiff got contacted the defendant through his kith and kin as defendant was not lifting the phone. Thus at last the plaintiff personally approached the defendant on 06.05.2018 in Bengaluru City as plaintiff came to know that defendant is available in Bengaluru. The defendant admitted his liability but prays for more time to repay the said amount. Thus plaintiff having no alternative failing this suit. The defendant is liable to pay the above amounts with interest at the rate of 24% per annum from the date of payment till the filing of this suit. Further the defendant is liable to pay further interest on the suit claim that is Rs. 5,97,415/- from the date of suit till realization.

4. CAUSE OF ACTION: The plaintiff further submits that, the causes of action for the plaintiff arise within Bengaluru City on the dates of transfer of amounts from his account to the account of defendant. The cause of action arise in Bengaluru City since as on date of payments both the parties were residing in the Bengaluru City and payments were made from the Bank situated in Bengaluru City. Further causes of actions arise as on dates of 14 transactions as stated above. Further cause of action arise on 31.12.2016 when defendant failed to discharge his liability along with interest as agreed. Further cause of action arise on all the dates when plaintiff called upon defendant through his phone and also demanded the amount in personal meetings. The legal cause of action arise on the date of notice that is 01.08.2017 and also on the date of service of such notice on the defendant. The further causes of action also arise when defendant after receipt of such legal notice called back the plaintiff and assured him to repay the amount with interest. Further causes of actions arise on subsequent dates after service of notice when plaintiff made calls to the defendant and also when he tried to contact the defendant through his friends. The actual cause of action arise on 06.05.2018 when the plaintiff personally met the defendant in Bengaluru City and made a demand for refund of principal amount along with agreed rate of interest. Thus this Hon’ble Court is having both pecuniary and territorial jurisdiction to try this. Further all causes of actions in respect of above transactions arise within the territorial jurisdiction of this Hon’ble Court.

5. LIMITATION: The plaintiff further submits that, the present suit is being filed within a period of limitation.

6. COURT FEES: The plaintiff further submits that, he pays Court Fees as prescribed under the provisions of Karnataka Court Fees and Suit Valuation Act, 1958 under a separate valuation slip.

7. The plaintiff declares that he has not filed any other suit in respect of above claim before any other Authority or Tribunal or Court.

Therefore, the above named plaintiff humbly submits as follows:

PRAYER

WHEREFORE THE PLAINTIFF, humbly prays the Hon’ble Court to pass the reliefs:

1. The defendant be directed to pay principal amount of Rs. 5,97,415/- along with interest at the rate of 24% percent per annum along with cost of the suit, from the date of suit till realization.

2. Any other relief/reliefs as deemed fit for which the plaintiff is entitled for.

VERIFICATION

I, Sri. Kasu Balaji Reddy, Aged about 40 years, S/o Subba Reddy, R/at No.48, 1st Floor, 13th Cross, 9th Main, B.T.M 2nd Stage, Near Madina Masjid,

Bengaluru – 560076. Permanently Residing at: Sri. Kasu Balaji Reddy, Aged about 40 years, S/o Subba Reddy, R/at D. No.9-620, Rajaka Colony, Chilakaluripet Town & Mandal, Guntur District, Andhra Pradesh - 522616, do hereby verify contents of plaint Para No. 1 to all and document No.1 to all, found all the facts true and correct and legal points believed to be true and correct on the advice of my advocate.

Place: Bengaluru

Date: Plaintiff.

Through Advocate.

Kishan Dutt Kalaskar
Advocate, Bangalore
6174 Answers
489 Consultations

This is my response to you:

1. Since the project is not RERA registered and also since it is commercial office therefore established authorities cannot help you;

2. You also cannot file a complaint to the consumer court;

3. You will have to file a suit for recovery in the civil court;

4. If the jurisdiction permits then approach the High Court;

5. Before approaching court try methods like amicable settlement or send legal notice;

6. If he still does not refund file a police complaint for cheating against him.

Gowaal Padavi
Advocate, Mumbai
1920 Answers
5 Consultations

Hi

1) It is more than 5 years since you have paid monies and the developer has not handed over possession.

2) Your legal grievance would fall under

a) Deficiency of service under Consumer protection act and

b) non performance under specific relief act.

3) Assuming during these 5 years, you have repeatedly requested the builder to handover possession, you should now

i) Issue legal notice to the builder

ii asking him to register the sale deed and also handover possession within 30 days.

iii) Claiming interest for delayed possession(as per agreement of sale)

4) If the builder is not complying with the terms of the legal notice, depending on the sale value of your agreement you can approach the appropriate Consumer forum

a) District Forum (up to 20 lakh)

b) State(20 lakh to 1 crore)

c) NCDRC(above 1 crore))

.

5) Alternatively you can approach the civil courts under specific relief act and claim registration of sale deed and possession.

6) I would recommend approaching the consumer forum as the best option as it is cheaper and process is quite straight forward, but very recently civil courts at Noida have been fast tracking realty related cases , (there are huge number of realty cases at Noida), you should consider either of the options

Hope this information is useful.

Rajgopalan Sripathi
Advocate, Hyderabad
2173 Answers
394 Consultations

You can simply send him a legal notice claiming your refund for the said property along with interest and after that

you can file a complaint before the consumer court or can even file a Civil case for recovery of your money and along with that you can also file a police complaint against him for forgery and cheating.

Archit Vasudeva
Advocate, New Delhi
260 Answers
2 Consultations

1. File a grievance petition with the Local Consumer Court, with all the relevant documentary evidences, and claim refund and 18% interest thereon, and damages /compensation, for the physical and mental harassment.

2. There is no other simpler and positive action besides the above option. ALSO file complaint before the local RERA authority and the Economic Offences Wing, for the cheating & misrepresentation etc....

Keep Smiling .... Hemant Agarwal

Hemant Agarwal
Advocate, Mumbai
5612 Answers
25 Consultations

1. Your query is not clear .

2. What is your dispute? if he has sold the space then you do you want to get your money back?

3. If he has not delivered the possession as yet or even after this he has refused to register the sale deed then you can file case before the consumer forum.

Devajyoti Barman
Advocate, Kolkata
23151 Answers
506 Consultations

Firstly, you should serve a legal notice to the Builder asking him to refund the entire amount as the construction is still not complete after the lapse of 5 years after receiving complete sale consideration for the same. You should also demand interest for the period of delay and compensation in the said notice.

If the Builder fails to repay te entire amount within 15 days opposite of the legal notice, you can file a complaint against the Builder in consumer forum for deficiency of services and unfair trade practices adopted by the Builder wearing you can also claim litigation expenses

as well as interest till the time of payment and compensation from the builder.

Siddharth Jain
Advocate, New Delhi
6356 Answers
102 Consultations

When you have already purchased the same then there is no quiestion of getting the money back as you must have bought it with your free will and consent.

But yes, if there was something which have been concealed to you then you may be able tot get your money back for sure otherwise it is difficult to get the same back.

Sanjay Baniwal
Advocate, South Delhi
5474 Answers
13 Consultations

You have to issue a legal notice and to file petition before consumer forum for compensation as well as refund of your money which is paid by you . All the best.

C. V. Jadhav
Advocate, Bangalore
545 Answers
18 Consultations

MAKE A PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION AND MADE CONSOMER COMPLAINT IN THE CONSUMER FORUM

Hemadri Chandrakanth
Advocate, Vijayawada
98 Answers
10 Consultations

Dear Concerned,

You would need to proceed immediately by sending a legal notice for cancellation and seeking refund of money followed by a recovery suit at the Gautambudhnagar courts.

Best of luck

Atulay Nehra
Advocate, Noida
1311 Answers
58 Consultations

Immediately send a legal notice to this builder/developer and seek refund of your deposit.

In case the legal notice is not complied with, file a case in RERA/Consumer Forum.

Vibhanshu Srivastava
Advocate, Lucknow
9638 Answers
305 Consultations

You can proceed to issue a legal notice and then proceed to file the complaint before the consumer court in Noida as the property is situated there only.

This process is economical and fast as well

Kiran N. Murthy
Advocate, Bangalore
1298 Answers
194 Consultations

If the property in question was sold to you by a registered sale deed, then you cannot claim it back.

However if it was sold just like that, then you may be having the documentary evidences for having paid the amount,

you may issue a legal notice and recover the amount legally by filing a recovery suit.

You may revert with more details for a proper opinion.

T Kalaiselvan
Advocate, Vellore
86630 Answers
2315 Consultations

you can approach consumer forum.

Ramachandar Desu
Advocate, Bangalore
23 Answers

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