Regulatory Authority (UPRERA) has made a model format of the letter of offer of possession publicly available on the RERA portal. As Sanjay Bhoosreddy, Chairman, UP-RERA clarified, "Offer of possession should be meant only for the purpose of taking possession.
Hence, we have made available a model offer of possession on the portal and any other format of letter will not be valid. The promoters will issue offer of possession to the allottees on the same format of offer of possession letter available on the portal and no binding conditions will be imposed on the allottees by the promoters in any way through the offer of possession letter.”
“The core intention of the letter related to offer of possession should be that the allottee is being invited to hand over the possession of his unit. If any construction work is still remaining in the unit, the promot- er will have to clearly mention the remaining finishing work of the unit and the duration required for it in completion. If the allottee has any liability, then it should not be outside the scope of the agreement for sale and its legal justification should be proved,” UP RERA stated.
Furthermore, letters sent using demand notice, final demand notice and offer of possession or similar language will not be considered as offer of possession letter. Offer of possession letters should be sent within two months of receiving OC/CC and at the time of possession, a copy of OC/ CC certificate issued by the devel- opment authority will also have to be given to the allottees.
Developers Contention
Real estate developers are of the view that such a direction is good for new projects, but this decision will impact the homebuyers in several stuck projects, where the units are completed, but the OCs are pending from local authorities, due to various reasons, such as pending dues by builders towards the authorities or bankruptcy of the developer.While UP RERA contends that"offer of possession' should be meant only for the purpose of taking possession, The developers cite that in 2017, UP RERA had made a provision for deemed OC, allowing possession in projects that had NOCs for fire, electricity, lift and finance.
CREDAI Western UP Vice President Suresh Garg talking to the media said, “The builders give a final demand letter in their offer letter after the OC, or deemed OC, that can be as per the terms of their builder-buyer agreement. Also men- tioned is the date of receipt of OC and letter number to give reference to the home buyers. The demand letter is not a possession letter and a builder generally clarifies the date of possession.”
UP RERA Explanation
As per UP RERA, the promoters send 'final demand letter' and 'final demand notice' using the name and language of 'Offer of Possession', which creates confusion among the allottees. 'Offer of Possession' should be meant only for the purpose of taking possession. Hence, we have made available a model 'Offer of Possession' on the portal and any other format of letter will not be valid. This will remove confusion among the stakeholders and help in disposal of disputes related to it.
UP RERA also notified that after receiving the OC / CC of the project, the offer of possession letters will be sent to the allottees by the promoter in writing to their registered email and residential address by post and they will also be informed by SMS on their respective mobile numbers and phone number. The promoter should also display information at the project site and its head office. Letters sent using demand notice, final demand notice and offer of possession or similar language will not be considered as Offer of Possession letter.
Homebuyers Dilemma
The homebuyers have requested a reconsideration, as they fear that in case of any dispute between the authority and the builders on non-payment of dues, etc., it would delay the handover of the flats. The homeowner’s association stated that the rules have been made without due understanding of the ground realities especially of projects, where the builder is not paying the money or is missing, the end-users will face trouble due to the inability of getting the possession and having to pay the EMI as well as rent.
Real estate developers are of the view that such a direction is good for new projects, but this decision will impact the home buyers in several stuck projects, where the units are completed, but the OCs are pending from local authorities.
