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About four years back, the ownership of one of the flats in a housing society where I am the secretary was transferred on the basis of a no-objection certificate (NOC) and an advertisement in a local newspaper. The flat owner died intestate and the heirs have not registered any settlement deed. Is this a valid transfer?
— Name withheld on request
We assume that the owner was a Hindu and he was governed by the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 at the time of his demise. Since you have informed that the owner died intestate i.e. without leaving a Will, his properties would devolve upon his heirs as per the Hindu Succession Act. Legally, if a person dies intestate, for affecting the transmission of the deceased estate, a succession certificate or letters of administration needs to be obtained by a court having competent jurisdiction.
However, in the present scenario, we believe that there was no transfer of the premises but a transmission that was done after the demise of the owner in favour of one of his heirs, and to conclude the same, the beneficiary must have obtained a NOC from the other heirs and published a newspaper publication in respect of the same. Since the parties have already acted on the aforesaid transmission and there has been no dispute or claim that was raised by any third party/ies or other family members in the past four years, there may not be anything that the society at this stage should or ought to do.
I have recently purchased a flat in a Mumbai apartment complex that is 28 years old. The property does not have a conveyance deed. What processes should the housing society follow at the time of its redevelopment?
— Name withheld on request
The society is not having a deed of conveyance in its favour would mean that the developer/ original owner still has certain rights in the property being the land along with the building structure standing thereon. However, this position has to be factually checked from the agreements which the developer/ owner executed with the purchasers of the flats in the building.
In any case, the obligation is on the developer/ owner to complete his title and convey the land along with the building/s standing thereon to the society.
Any redevelopment project cannot take place until the conveyance of the property is in favour of the society.
The society should ideally and legally apply to the competent authority with necessary documents at the earliest for a deemed conveyance. This would give the society a legal title and ownership of land, and also developing rights
Aradhana Bhansali is partner, Rajani Associates.