The Registration process and requirements are governed by Maharashtra State Co-operative Society Act 1960.
To Register Co-op. Housing Society, Minimum 10 member are required.
Less than 10 members Societies are also Registered as per M.S.Govt. Ordinance No. 1094 and 277/14 Dated 10/03/1995. But such member’s flats should be less than 700 Sq.ft. Carpet Area
As per M.S. Govt. Notification dated 24/07/1992 conditions for registrations are liberalized.
60 % of the Promoters are must be ready to form Co-op. Housing Society.
If flats are sold as per the Maharashtra Ownership Flats Act,1963 [MOFA] then it is the duty of the Builder / Developer to form society and hand over the Account + Documents to Provisional Working Committee [PWC] In this case the builder become CP and other flat owners become Promoters for Registration purpose. This society registers under Co-operation.
When the builder is not registering society due to some reasons or not support to registered society then flat purchasers can apply for registration of Co-operative Housing Society under Non Co-operation. In this case one of the flat owners should be elected as CP for Registration purpose. In this case some more time is taken to registered society as registrar is issue notice to builder for Non Co-operation. If no response then ex-party decision are taken for registration of the society. Now all the case of Non Co-operation Registration decisions is given by District Deputy Registrar [DDR] then society is registered
All flat owners should hold meeting and elect Promoter. All power for Registrations, documentation etc. should be given to promoter. The resolution should be passed and must be sign by all flat owners who wish to become member of the Co-operative Housing Society
Appoint Consultant / Legal Advocate for registration and ask him to comply all requirements. All members together also can do work for registration.
For registration of Co-op. Hsg. Society the following documents should be filed to Dy. Registrar / Asst. Registrar of Co-operative Department area concern in order as follow:
• Applications for Name to be reserved for Proposed Society’s
• Form of resolution electing a CP and Promoter and giving them authority for doing certain acts on behalf of the proposed society
• Notice to Builder
• Application form “A”
• Information in Annexure ” A ” ” B ” ” C ”
• Bye-Law of the Society 2 copies
• Details of Accounts Annexure ” D ”
• Bank Balance Certificate in Original
• Namuna 6
• Agreement of 1 Flat
• Advocate Search Report [Title Certificate]
• Society’s Building Plan
• Lay Out Plan
• Sanction Plan from Authority
• Commencement Certificate
• Completion Certificate
• Promoter’s Guarantee in form ” X ” On Rs. 100/- Stamp paper & notarized
• Guarantee in form” Y ” On Rs. 100/- Stamp paper & notarized
• Guarantee in form ” Z ” On Rs. 100/- Stamp paper & notarized
• Latest 7/12 or City Survey Revenue Record of Land [not more than 1 month old]
• Promoters Affidavit On Rs. 100/- Stamp paper & notarized
• Indemnity Bond On Rs. 100/- Stamp paper & notarized
• NA Order
• ULC Order
• Development Agreement and Power of Attorney
• List of Members in the society
• Scheme/Yojana Form
• Registration Fee Challan for Rs.2500
• Builder Non Co-operation form Z On Rs. 100/- Stamp paper & notarized if required 1 copy
On submission of above document the Dy./Asst. Registrar will go through the papers And document. If found OK he will make order for issue of Registration Certificate.
If any deficiencies are found then the applicant will be inform accordingly and documents will be corrected wherever necessary. When all papers are in order, he will issue order for issue of Registration Certificate.
Registration Certificate is issued with covering letter and Officer’s name is mentioned who will attend First General Meeting. Normally the Officer concern is not attending meeting. In absence, all members has to hold meeting and has to elect Provisional Working Committee [PWC] whose working period will be ONE Year.
After electing PWC the member of PWC has to submitted the M-20 bond on Rs. 100/- stamp paper with the sign of Officer’s whose name is in Covering latter to Dy./Asst. Registrar. All Rule and Regulations, resolution and minutes which is written in AGM Register must be sign by Officer’s name is mentioned in covering letter it is the most important step.[Many society forget this which create problem latter] After First Annual General Meeting PWC is replaced with new Working Committee [WC] whose working period will be FIVE Year. The new WC election can conduct before PWC time over with proper election process. WC also has to submitted the M-20 bond on Rs. 100/- stamp paper with the sign of election officer to Dy./Asst. Registrar.
When application for Name reservation of Society has given, the Dy./Asst. Registrar give instruction to Open Bank Account in Dist. Central Co-op. Bank The Account has to opened in the name of CP And deposit all money of Share Capital Contribution [per member Share Money is Rs. 50*10 = Rs. 500 i.e. 10 share of 50 rupees each] and Member ship Fees of Rs. 100/- i.e. Per member you have to deposit Rs. 600/- in bank and obtain Bank Balance Certificate and submitted it to Dy./Asst. Registrar. After First Annual General Body Meeting the Bank Account has to transfer in the name of Society. For bank Account operation Chairman sign must and either Secretary and Treasurer. Expenditure has to be made as per provision of Bye-Laws. Bank and Cash Transaction [Collection and Payment are handled by Treasure when Billing Clerk or Accountant are not been kept.
*WHY A CO-OPERATIVE HOUSING SOCIETY IS BETTER THAN APARTMENT OWNERS ASSOCIATION?
1. The builder is interested in using the increased FSI which will be awarded by the govt. for that area at any time in future. If the ‘Society’ is formed, then upon the transfer and conveyance of land in favour of the Society, the increased FSI will be owned by the Society and the builder shall not have any right over it. But if it is an Apartment, then the builder owns that increased FSI and can use it anywhere. Thus, the builder will keep taking advantage of every increase in FSI throughout in the future.
2. In an Apartment, the builder retains the ownership of the open spaces which are not included in the saleable area. Example – Terrace or any open parking/stairs space which is not included in the saleable area. But in case of Society, the builder cannot retain any right on any of these areas and has to hand over everything to the Society. The Maharashtra Apartment Ownership Act also provides for the ownership of an individual Apartment in a building and to make such Apartment heritable and transferable property.
3. Bye-laws and Rules of ‘Society’ are binding on all the residents and nobody can act as per his/her whims. Hence, if the Society decides to ban any objectionable commercial activities in the flats such as noise-making music classes or using the flat for catering or courier activities etc or not to rent out to bachelors etc, then all the residents have to abide by it. But if it is an Apartment, then owners can violate the Apartment Rules and the Apartment Body can just file a case in the Civil Court. However, while the Society disputes are resolved in a separate Court i.e. Co-operative Court dealing with Society matters and hence they are fast resolved whereas, the Apartment matters have to be taken to the normal Civil Court and hence they typically take years and decades to resolve.
4. When the building contemplates redevelopment after 25-30 years, the Society’s decision will be final and hence the Society members will have negotiation power with the builder at that time. But if in case of an Apartment, the consent of every Apartment-owner is required and hence it goes into an endless delay due to lack of a common decision acceptable to everybody. There are many instances in Mumbai wherein finally the dilapidated buildings had to be forcefully vacated by an eviction order from Court since they became unlivable. Thus, while the decisions are taken on a ‘majority’ basis in Society, the Apartment goes with rule of ‘Acceptable by Everybody’. So if the builder has retained even one flat in an Apartment, he will play a veto card in his favour at the time of redevelopment.
*FORMATION / REGISTRATION OF CO-OPERATIVE HOUSING SOCIETIES IN PUNE
According to the Law, every Builder / Developer has to form a Housing Co-operative Society with limited options available in this regard to managing the affairs of the building i.e.
(a) Condominium
(b) Private Limited Company and
(c) Co-operative Society, (excluding the unrealistic rental housing),
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to state that in at least 90% the Promoters and / or the Builders have formed a Housing Co-operative Society.
The basic requirements for a Co-operative Housing Society Registration normally are unknown to the flat/unit purchasers. It is the statutory obligation cast upon the builder, where the builder acts as a friend, philosopher, and guide of the promoters and helps them in forming a Co- operative Housing Society.
There are four types of Housing Co-operative Societies
(a) Open Plot type Societies [Tenant ownership]
(b) Flat Owners Societies [Tenant Co-partnership]
(c) Tenant Societies
(d) Housing Board Societies.
The procedure for Co-operative Housing Society Registration begins with electing a Chief Promoter in a meeting of the Promoters. The builder under the Flat Owners type of co-operative society has the first right to act as the chief promoter. The developer / flat purchasers should call for a meeting of the Promoters by issuing the notice under Agenda of the meeting given at least 14 days notice to the Promoters. In this meeting, a Chief Promoter is elected who can exercise such powers and carry out such functions as are mentioned in the minutes of the Promoters of the proposed Co-operative Society. After electing the Chief Promoter, the proposed name of the society has to be decided by the Promoters. Normally, the name reservation proposal should be accompanied by the signature of at least 10 Promoters who have attended the meeting. It is a common belief that the Society should consist of at least 10 members. If the number is less than 10 then special permission from Government has to be taken. In such cases, the garages/car parking may be allotted to other relatives of the promoter to reach a number of 10.
It would be of interest to note that the model bye-laws define flat as a Flat means a separate set and self-contained set of premises used or intended to be used or intended to be used for residence, or office or showroom, or shop, or godown and includes a garage, or dispensary, or consulting room, or clinic, or flour mill, the premises forming part of a building and includes an apartment. On allotment of name and permission to open a bank account by the Registrar, the Chief Promoter has to collect Share Capital, Entrance Fees from promoters and deposit the same in the branch of the bank permitted by the Registrar. It should be noted that the amount cannot be withdrawn from the Bank till the Society is Registered or its Registration is refused, except with prior written permission of the Registrar. The Chief Promoter should submit Registration Proposal to the Registering Authority within a period of 3 months from the date of issue of Letter of Reservation in the name of the proposed Society.
The documents that need to be submitted to the Registering Authorities for Housing Co-operative Society Registration are as under:
1. Application for registration of Housing Co-operative Society in Form A along with Statement A. Enclosure to application for Registration as per Rule 4(1) of Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Rules, 1961.
2. Information about proposed Housing Co-operative Society in Statement ‘B’ (vide Govt. Circular dated 2-5-1980).
3. Information about promoter members of the proposed Housing Co-operative Society in Statement ‘C’ (vide Govt. Circular dt. 2-5-1980).
4. A Statement of Accounts as per Form D.
5. Model Bye-laws.
6. Bank Balance Certificate.
7. S.B.I. / Treasury Challan for payment of Registration Fee of Rs. 2500
8. Title Clearance Certificate from an Advocate
9. A true copy of the approved Building Plan.
10. Letter of Authority Granting permission to commence construction work/Completion Certificate (if applicable).
11. Affidavit on Rs. 100/- Stamp Paper from at least 10 promoter members to the effect that they are residing in the area of operation of the Society (Proposed), made before a Competent Authority.
12. An affidavit from the Chief Promoter on Stamp Paper of Rs. 100/- executed before the Competent Authority in form ‘Y’.
13. Certified True Copy of an agreement made on Stamp paper and registered between the builder, promoter and purchasers of flat.
14. Where the promoter members are firms/ companies, a letter of authority from such firms/companies authorizing the promoter to sign on behalf of firm / company.
15. In the case of such proposed societies, names of 60% of the flat holders of the total number of flats constructed or proposed to be constructed as per the plan approved, must be included in Statement ‘A’ to be attached to the Registration Proposal. It is the duty of the Registrar to register the society and on registration of the society, it becomes a separate legal entity. Thereafter, the management of the affairs of the society is carried out by the managing committee which is elected by the general body meeting of the society. It may be of interest to note that in a co-operative society the principle is one member one vote. In a co-operative society, the right to be exercised in the general body meeting is a personal right. This is one of the reasons why even a person holding a power of attorney cannot attend the general body meeting of the society. The quantum of the capital being introduced by the member is not of much importance. Preference should be given to the formation of a private limited company if one member proposes to acquire the majority of flats in the building.
*CHECKLIST FOR HANDOVER OF SOCIETY FROM BUILDER
During the handover procedure it is important to record and file all details related to the process so that even if problems arise years later, all you need to do is look through this set of records and, accordingly, figure out what to do next.
The builder-residents society handover procedure needs to be structured, but that’s not where the process ends. There are a few things you should remember to check even after the builder hands over your society.
1)Make sure all society related issues are recorded and filed: All defects that you find should be typed as a letter with a signed acknowledgement of the same from the builder, so he is obligated to fix them. All important e-mails should be printed and kept safely for future references.
2)Make sure you make good use of the builder provided warranty period: Builders generally offer a warranty period within which defects are to be pointed out and duly fixed.
3)Form a team of volunteers to check and cross check all formalities are done correctly: Apart from the Management Committee, it is recommended that you bring together a group of residents to volunteer in making sure all necessary documents have been collected and all required formalities have been done. (To learn what documents you need during society handover, read ‘Keep a Check on These When Builder Hands Over Your Housing Society’)
4)Get a community management software to help you keep a permanent track of records: Getting a society management portal will prove significantly helpful in the overall management of your community activities in the long run. (For example: Common Floor Groups portal. With its many features such as Discussion, Complaints, My Dues, Issue Tracker, Documents repository this portal will serve as a platform to execute and manage community related activities effectively.)
5)Keep originals safely and copies separately with the Committee President: Make sure you keep originals of documents at a safe place such as the Association office and their copies with the Committee President which, when his tenure ends, are passed on to his successor.
6)Make sure you have all documents mentioned on the ‘Handover’ Checklist: Double check that you have all documents mentioned on the handover checklist in ‘Keep a Check on These When Builder Hands Over Your Housing Society’.
FOR MORE DETAILS CALL:
VED LEGAL,
Adv. Gajanan Rahate
Mob: 9763040088
E_mail: [email protected]
