• Apartment maintenance

Sir, We have 10 flats in our Apartment, which constructed in the year 2000. Out of 10 flats 7 flats 2 BHK & 3 are 1 BHK. Since, 2000 Apartment maintenance charges are equally sharing to all the flat residants and paying. Now, since 1 year one owner is not paying maintenance amount Rs.19,000/- and he is asking us to reduce the amount. We don't have any association and bye laws. What type of action, we can take and how can we get the amount from him.
Asked 6 years ago in Property Law
Religion: Hindu

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12 Answers

form cooperative society of all flat owners

 

2) adopt model bye laws framed by the govt 

 

3) issue legal notice to defaulter to pay society maintenance

 

4) if he fails to pay take legal proceedings to recover  dues with interest 

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
99775 Answers
8145 Consultations

See since there is no registered body then all the residents can given him legal notice to seek the maintenance charges from him in case he fails to pay on  notice a suit against him need to filed to recover the amount.

Shubham Jhajharia
Advocate, Ahmedabad
25513 Answers
179 Consultations

It is necessary to form a registered society to collect maintenance. 

If the owner of the flat fail to pay the amount then you can file a suit for recovery money for not paying  the maintenance amount.

Make a penalty clause in the bylaws against defaulting flat owners.

 

Mohammed Mujeeb
Advocate, Hyderabad
19325 Answers
32 Consultations

maintenance should be equal to all members irrespective of flat size 

 

2) only property taxes, insurance , water supply should be based on flat size 

 

3) form cooperative society of all flat owners then take recovery proceedings 

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
99775 Answers
8145 Consultations

See you need to send him notice revision should be as agreement of all the members and owners.

Shubham Jhajharia
Advocate, Ahmedabad
25513 Answers
179 Consultations

Normally in small apartments like 10 to 20 flats Apartment maintenance charges are charged equally irrespective of the area of the flat and UDS. 

 

Mohammed Mujeeb
Advocate, Hyderabad
19325 Answers
32 Consultations

You can recover the same through Dy registrar but for that you need to first abide with the procedure. Draft or adopt and file your byelaws with dy registrar and then initiate proceedings against him

Prashant Nayak
Advocate, Mumbai
34514 Answers
249 Consultations

The bombay HC has passed a judgment that the payment of the maintenance has to be done irrespective of the area covered by each of the individual  

Anilesh Tewari
Advocate, New Delhi
18103 Answers
377 Consultations

Dear Sir,

 

Collecting dues in a perfect world is un-challenging, in fact fulfilling. You get up early in the morning, stretch your arms, take a big yawn, shake your head and get ready for a work-filled yet lovely and successful day.
But snap back to reality!
You get up, stretch your arms and take a big yawn only to see it quickly fade when you’re reminded of your job of the day-COLLECTING MAINTENANCE DUES!!

And why do you exactly dread this day every month? Because some people simply forget it every month, and some detest the idea of paying their dues.
Now, the question is- How do you remind them to pay for the community services they avail, and what measures do you take if they refuse to pay?

  • Prevention is better than cure, so you can send them SMS/email reminders well in advance so that maintenance dues do not get lost in the long list of bills to pay (You can use CommonFloor Groupsfor the same).
  • If a resident has not paid his maintenance due till the decided due date, you may give a written notification of 12 days extra to make the payment, and then a grace period of 3 days.
  • If still not paid, discuss with the Management Committee and send a notice to the defaulter.
  • Post this, you may pass a resolution during an association meeting and send a legal notice to the defaulter after consulting an advocate.
  • An interest of 12% per annum may be charged on the default amount from the due date to the payment date.
  • After this, committee may withdraw community bornefacilities such as tanker-water, or generator power supplied during a power-cut, or both. In this case, re-connection of services shall be made only if and when full default amount has been paid along with interest incurred. For re-connection of services, defaulter has to additionally pay some amount as penalty.

PS: The above mentioned points are suggestions, and not laws. Please consult your lawyer before implementing any of the above.

Some wise words of advice:
When you set your community’s by-laws, do it carefully and make sure you add a clause on steps/measures to be taken in case a resident continually/regularly defaults  on paying their due maintenance amount..

 



 

Netravathi Kalaskar
Advocate, Bengaluru
4951 Answers
27 Consultations

You can decide about this request in a general or special  meeting of the apartment owners and may even pass a resolution to the decision taken in the meeting, this decision will be binding on all the members of the association

T Kalaiselvan
Advocate, Vellore
89977 Answers
2492 Consultations

His request for revision in maintenance, if he is holding a flat with less space, may appear to be genuine, however let the meeting decide about this hence you can call for a meeting to take a decision on the subject since he appears to be affected by the exorbitant charges.

T Kalaiselvan
Advocate, Vellore
89977 Answers
2492 Consultations

  1. If someone is complying with something by regularly doing it for continuous two years then it means that the person has given consent to the same act or omission.
  2. There will a document signed by all stating that everybody is paying the same maintenance since long and now he has not been paying.
  3. That document will surpass the need of having a society and any by- laws.
  4. Use the same letter issued to him and file a suit for recovery of maintenance before the court of civil law from the date of filing (including the non payment period) till the final outcome of the suit or payment including interest over it.

Sanjay Baniwal
Advocate, South Delhi
5477 Answers
13 Consultations

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