Voting and Bye laws

[Darshana Trivedi]

Voting and Bye laws

 

All of us will agree that friendly neighborly relations should not overlap the legal relation of the owners of apartments in our Garden Estate Condominium.

After the recent awareness of our views regarding the working/decisions of Garden Estate, I put all the information , that I had ,together to simplify the picture and I welcome any additional information that anyone could provide.

All the owners of apartments in Garden Estate Condominium feel that it is being run according to the laws meant for a Condominium.

Many of us are aware of a few simple things like

-       Each owner or Co owners have the "Sale Deed" registered . It is an important  document and some may have the original  or the certified copy issued by registration office.

-       “Garden Estate Condominium” is registered  in the Registration office in Pune  and it has a letter head. This happened after the Deed of Declaration.

-       The “Deed of Declaration” for Garden Estate Condominium , probably made in 1995,exists in the registration office. The copies of this Deed of Declaration are supposed to be with the owners, only for their reference.

The "Deed of Apartment" was then made for each owner.

-       Garden Estate Condominium ( ever since its inception in 1996) is meant to follow the rules laid down in the Maharashtra Apartment Ownership Act. One can download or view the entire 16 page “Maharashtra Apartment Ownership Act” from www.maharashtra.gov.in This Act is different from the Maharashtra Flat Ownership Act which is meant for Cooperative Societies.

-       Initially the definition and the powers of the management were according to the Apartment Ownership Act. Gradually, Bye laws (applicable to our Garden Estate only) were made to tweak the original laws, to customize our governance. These bye laws are to be registered and attached to the original Deed of Declaration in the registration office. Should any difference of opinion arise  between the owners or owner and management, these bye laws are followed. As far as I know , these bye laws can be changed or removed( by following proper legal procedure) according to the requirement of the current owners.

-       Most of us did not even care for process of the bye laws ( we did not participate in its making, we did not think about how it would affect in the future, we did not even probe into who were making it and with what powers). Rightly so, because we assumed that a group of volunteers had the extra time to devote for the activities of the management and that it was more like a social network of those owners who have been staying in Garden Estate since it was formed. All the owners promptly paid the annual maintenance fees and followed the bye laws and were happy that everything seemed to be continuing the way it should.

-       Today, 17 years after Garden Estate Condominium was registered, the scene is a little different. Many of the original owners , who were not staying since 1996, have occupied their apartments. New owners( who bought apts in resale) have become a part of Garden Estate.Some of the old non resident owners have also woken up to the fact that they are owners of a prime piece of property. So, now there is a mixed group of owners who do not know the entire history of Garden Estate. But what binds all of them together is the fact that all are ruled by the same bye laws made over a decade ago. These bye laws were made by the apartment owners in the past. Some of them still continue to be owners but some have sold, died, or moved on.

-       Instead of trying to unravel the mysteries of the past, it would make more sense if every owner demanded his right to look at the way Garden Estate Condominium is being run and should be managed in the future. Who is the managing Commmitte? Who are the members? When and how were they selected? What are their powers? How are they using the powers? Whose vote is counted? How is the voting calculated? Can a non owner be in the management? Details of bye laws should be made available to every owner. Are these bye laws registered? Do we even need these bye laws any more?

-       With todays communication and awareness, it is not difficult to reach out to the fifty apartment owners of Garden Estate. A list of all the owners should be officially maintained. Electronic communication with the management should be honoured. More transparency will mean fewer conflicts of interests.

-       The rights of the owners should ideally depend on the square footage that he owns. We pay property tax and maintenance according to the size of our apartments, so , logically, voting rights should also be according to that. One cannot have a smaller apartment but rights more than that of a bigger apartment.

-       Co ownership only halves the voting rights and does not double the voting rights. A co owner of a 880 sq feet apartment should have the right of  440 sq feet and certainly cannot have the same right to vote as the owner of 1065 or 3000 square feet. A couple can make their two children also their co owners- so, should they get four votes instead of one?

-       Only one owner per apartment should be given the power to vote(  it depending on the size of the apartment). In case of co owners of an apartment, only the first owner should represent all the co owners . The first owner will not only stand for the interests of all his co owners of that particular apartment but will also enjoy  voting rights  based on how big the apartment is. Even the share certificates issued by Garden Estate are only one Share  per apartment. In mundane issues  like painting the building, these may not be relevant but they are extremely important in decision making of issues like converting from Condominium to Co operative Society.

-       Clean , safe and comfortable Apartment Complex should be the first priority of the management. Issues which need legal interference can be avoided altogether because a lot of money ( from our own common fund) is spent on lawyers, registration, consultations and so on. If every apartment owner does something ( even trivial) which apparently goes against the bye laws of the Apartment Association, should all the common fund go in seeking legal advice? Maybe the apartment owner can afford the legal fees of his lawyer but can Garden Estate afford it? Money contributed by owners can be spent in better ways. Even in the case of the conversion of Garden Estate from Condominium to Co op Society, there have been over a dozen disapproval  but not a single owner/ management member has stood up and said that he is in favour of the move. According to Mr Ranade’s email there are not one but two lawyers are involved in  an activity which no owner has stood up for.

-       Most owners of apartments are honest, law abiding, decent folk who do not want Garden Estate to be the dominating subject of their lives. Yet, their  alertness, communication and  active participation is needed to prevent Garden Estate from being misused for personal gains.

-       These are only a few of the issues one should think about for safeguarding the interests of our property. Not only can we write the cheques for maintenance but we can also write about our doubts, concerns and approvals. Garden Estate now needs our common attention.

 

 

           Darshana Trivedi                                                                    

         B-13, Garden Estate,

          9921267053

 

 

 

[Sunil Fernandes]

Hi Darshana,

Thanks for this in depth email.

All the points you have raised are valid points and i agree that there should be greater transparency when it comes to matters which are legal in nature and which can impact the ownership rights of every apartment owner.

One of the points which stood out for me is the matter of legal fees. As you rightly pointed these fees come out of the GE maintenance fund, and we, the apartment owners should have been consulted before the services of a lawyer was called for. In this case there are 2 lawyers involved in this process.

Was this a collective decision. Was a majority vote taken to explore the possibility of conversion to a society? Were the legal expenses then approved by everyone?

To the current Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer.

Please take this email as a written communication from me and also other owners like Darshana who have asked these questions in the past.

Could anyone of you please reply to this email and kindly provide the following info for everyone to read :

1. How many owners had voted for exploring the possibility or even looking at pro's and con's of converting GEC into a society.
2. What were the reasons for looking at this possibility.
   
3. Could you list down the owners who wanted to explore this possibility so that everyone is aware of the numbers as this impacts the voting, if there is one in the future.
   
4. Has this topic been raised in the past and what was the outcome of that discussion. 
5. How much has GEC payed in legal fees till now on this topic.
6. Who are members of the Managing committee and what are their rights and duties.
7. Who are the Board Members and what are their rights and duties
8. Are there any bylaws specific to GEC and are they registered. Can a copy be sent to all owners?
9. If there is a vote in the future for the society conversion how many "yes" votes are needed to go ahead with the conversion?

For me this is not a trivial matter. This relates to how the ownership of my property is affected by the decisions taken in GEC. Its my right to protect my investment (as is everyone's else) and as a shareholder in GEC it's my right to know the answers to the above questions. If i feel that my ownership is being threatened or in doubt of being marginalized i need to look at legal options to protect myself.

The Management committee is doing an excellent job of maintaining GEC and i would say we are one of the best maintained complex's in our area, and i am grateful for all the current and past members who have put in time and effort into this. I have also been part of the management committee in the past although for a short period and know its a big responsibility.

As i am not based in India, email communications is the only way i can be in touch with whats happening in  GEC. So would request you to please use the garden-es...@googlegroups.com for future communications as i have been missed out in earlier emails.

regards,

Sunil Fernandes
A/20 Garden Estate
+447931676301