Move to amend MOFA to safeguard conveyance deed for flat owners

Maharashtra proposes an amendment to protect flat owners by mandating builders under RERA to provide conveyance deeds within three months.

MUMBAI: The state has tabled an amendment to the Maharashtra Ownership Flats (Regulation of the promotion of construction, sale, management and transfer) Act, 1963, to safeguard the interests of flat owners and housing societies developed under another law, the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, or RERA.

Move to amend MOFA to safeguard conveyance deed for flat owners

The amended law would make it mandatory for builders developing and redeveloping projects under RERA to provide a conveyance deed within the stipulated three-month period.

The amendment, proposed by the state housing department headed by deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde, was tabled in the legislature on Friday.

Even though under RERA, a developer must provide conveyance three months after getting the occupation certificate (OC), there is no provision for criminal action against builders who sidestep the law. As a result, many projects completed under RERA in the last decade have not received conveyance; neither do they qualify for deemed conveyance.

An amended MOFA would make projects developed under RERA eligible to receive deemed conveyance. Mumbai has thousands of real estate projects developed under RERA.

Former housing secretary Sitaram Kunte said the proposed amendment is a welcome move as it would be a respite for thousands of flat owners. “There is no provision in RERA to deal with the conveyance deed, so bringing it under the purview of MOFA is the need of the hour,” he said.

“There should be a provision for deemed conveyance even for RERA-registered properties. This will be needed across the country in other cities in future too,” he added.