MAHARASHTRA APARTMENT OWNERSHIP ACT, 1970
15 of 1971
19th February, 1971
An Act to provide for the
ownership of an individual apartment in a building and to make such apartment
heritable and transferable property.
Preamble: While construing a
statute, it is permissible for the Court to look at the preamble to understand
the conditions prevailing at the time when the enactment was brought into
operation, but it cannot take the aid of a preamble to control or limit the
meaning or the effect of a section. The court, cannot start with the preamble
for construing the provisions of an Act, though they would be justified in
resorting to it, may, they will be required to do so if they find that the
language used by Parliament is ambiguous or is too general, though in point of
fact Parliament intended that it should have a limited application.
WHEREAS, it is expedient to
provide for the ownership of an individual apartment in a building and to make
such apartment heritable and transferable property, and to provide for matters
connected with the purposes aforesaid; It is hereby enacted in the Twenty-first
year of the Republic of India as follows:
SECTION 01: SHORT
TITLE, EXTENT AND COMMENCEMENT
(1) This Act may be called the
Maharashtra Apartment Ownership Act, 1970.
(2) It extends to the whole of the
State of Maharashtra.
(3) This section shall come into
force at once ; and the remaining provisions of this Act shall come into force
in such areas, and on such dates2as the
State Government may, by
notification in the Official Gazette, appoint; and different dates may be
appointed for different areas.
SECTION 02:
APPLICATION OF ACT
This Act applies only to property,
the sole owner or all the owners of which submit the same to the provisions of
this Act by duly executing and registering a declaration as hereinafter
provided: Provided that, no property shall be submitted to the provisions of
this Act,3[unless it is used or proposed to be used for residence, office,
practice of any profession or for carrying on any occupation, trade or business
or for any other type of independent use :]
4[Provided further that the sole
owner or all the owners of the land may submit such land to the provisions of
this Act with a condition that he or they shall grant a lease of such land to the
apartment owners, terms and conditions of the lease being disclosed in the
Declaration either by annexing a copy of the instrument of lease to be executed
to the Declaration or otherwise.]
SECTION 03:
DEFINITIONS
In this Act, unless the context
otherwise requires, -
(a) "apartment" means a
part of the property intended for any type of independent use, including one or
more rooms or enclosed spaces located on one or more floors (or part or parts
thereof) in a building,5[intended to be used for residence, office, practice of
any profession, or for carrying on any occupation, trade or business or for any
other type of independent use ] and with a direct exit to a public street, road
or highway or to a common area leading to such street, road or highway ;
(b) "apartment owner"
means the person or persons owning an apartment and an undivided interest in
the common areas and facilities in the percentage specified and established in
the Declaration ;
(c) "apartment number"
means the number, letter, or combination thereof designating the apartment in
the Declaration ;
(d) " Association of
Apartment Owners" means all of the apartment owners acting as a group in
accordance with the bye-laws and Declaration;
(e) "building " means a
building containing five or more apartments, or two or more buildings, each
containing two or more apartments, with a total of five or more apartments for
all such buildings, and comprising a part of the property ;
(f) "common areas and
facilities", unless otherwise provided in the Declaration or lawful
amendments thereto, means -
(1) the land on which the building
is located ;
(2) the foundations, columns,
girders, beams, support, main walls, roofs, halls, corridors, lobbies, stairs,
stair-ways, fire -escapes and entrances and exits of the building ;
(3) the basements, cellars, yards,
gardens, parking areas and storage spaces ;
(4) the premises for the lodging
of janitors or persons employed for the management of the property ;
(5) installations of central
services, such as power, light, gas, hot and cold water, heating,
refrigeration, air conditioning and incinerating ;
(6) the elevators, tanks, pumps,
motors, fans, compressors, ducts and in general all apparatus and installations
existing for common use ;
(7) such community and commercial
facilities as may be provided for in the declaration ; and
(8) all other parts of the
property necessary or convenient to its existence, maintenance and safety, or
normally in common use;
(g) "common expenses "
means, -
(1) all sums lawfully assessed
against the apartment owners by the Association of Apartment Owners;
(2) expenses of administration,
maintenance, repair or replacement of the common areas and facilities ;
(3) expenses agreed upon as common
expenses by the Association of Apartment Owners ;
(4) expenses declared as common
expenses by the provision of this Act, or by the Declaration or the bye -laws ;
(h) "common profits"
means the balance of all income, rents, profits and revenues from the common
areas and facilities remaining after the deduction of the common expenses ;
6(i) "competent
authority":-
(1) in relation to buildings
constructed or to be constructed by the Housing and Area Development Authority
established under section 3, or a Housing and Area
Development Board established
under section 18 of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Act, 1976, or
by a company, means the Deputy Chief
Engineer or the officer referred
to in sub-section (2) of section 7 of the Maharashtra Ownership Flats
(Regulation of the promotion of construction, sale, management and transfer)
Act, 1963; and
(2) in any other case, means the
Registrar of Co -operative Societies as defined in the Maharashtra Co
-operative Societies Act, 1960 ;]
(j) "Declaration" means
the instrument by which the property is submitted to the provisions of this
Act, 7[as provided by section 2] and such Declaration as from time to time may
be lawfully amended;
8*****
(m) "joint family" means
an undivided Hindu family, and in the case of other persons, a group or unit,
the members of which are by custom joint in possession or residence ;
(n) "limited common areas and
facilities" means those common areas and facilities designated in the
Declaration as reserved for use of certain apartment or apartments to the
exclusion of the other apartments ;
(o) "majority" or
"majority of apartment owners" means the apartment owners with 51 per
cent, or more of the votes in accordance with the percentages assigned in the
Declaration to the apartments for voting purposes ;
(p) "person" includes a
joint family ;
(q) "prescribed" means
prescribed by rules made under this Act;
(r) "property" means the
land, the building, all improvements and structures thereon, 9[* * *] and all
easements, rights and appurtenances belonging thereto, and all articles of
personal property intended for use in connection therewith, which have been, or
are intended to be, submitted to the provisions of this Act.
SECTION 04:
STATUS OF APARTMENT
10[Subject to the provisions of
the second proviso to section 2 of this Act, each apartment] together with its
undivided interest in the common areas and facilities, appurtenant to such
apartment, shall for all purposes constitute heritable and transferable
immovable property within the meaning of any law for the time being in force in
the State; and accordingly, an apartment owner may transfer his apartment and
the percentage of undivided interest, in the common area and facilities
appurtenant to such apartment by way of sale, mortgage, lease, gift, exchange
or in any other manner whatsoever in the same manner, to the same extent and
subject to the same rights, privileges, obligations, liabilities,
investigation, legal proceedings, remedies and to penalty, forfeiture and
punishment as any other immovable property, or make a bequest of the same under
the laws applicable to the transfer and succession of immovable property.
SECTION 05:
OWNERSHIP OF APARTMENTS
(1) Each apartment owner shall be
entitled to the exclusive ownership and possession of his apartment 11[in
accordance with the Declaration executed and registered as required by section
2 of this Act.]
(2) each apartment owner12[shall
execute a Deed of Apartment] in relation to his apartment in the manner
prescribed for the purpose .
SECTION 06:
COMMON AREAS AND FACILITIES
(1) Each apartment owner shall be
entitled to an interest in the common areas and facilities in the percentage
expressed in the declaration. Such percentage shall be computed by taking as a
basis the value of the apartment in relation to the value of the property; and
such percentage shall reflect the limited common areas and facilities.
(2) The percentage of the
undivided interest of each apartment owner in the common areas and facilities
as expressed in the Declaration shall have a permanent character, and shall not
be altered without the consent of all of the apartment owners expressed in an
amended Declaration duly executed and registered as provided in this Act. The
percentage of the undivided interest in the common areas and facilities shall
not be separated from the apartment to which it appertains, and shall be deemed
to be conveyed or encumbered with the apartment even though such interest is
not expressly mentioned in the conveyance or other instrument.
(3) The common areas and
facilities shall remain undivided, and no apartment owner or any other person
shall bring any action for partition or division of any part thereof unless the
property has been removed from the provision of this Act as provided in
sections 14 and 22. Any covenant to the contrary shall be null and void.
(4) Each apartment owner may use
the common areas and facilities in accordance with the purpose for which they
are intended without hindering or encroaching upon the lawful rights of the
other apartment owners.
(5) The necessary work of
maintenance, repair and replacement of the common areas and facilities and the
making of any additions or improvements thereto shall be carried out only as
provided herein and in the bye-laws.
(6) The Association of Apartment
Owners shall have the irrevocable right, to be exercised by the Manager or
Board of Managers, to have access to each apartment from time to time during
reasonable hours as may be necessary for the maintenance repairs and
replacement of any of the common areas and facilities therein or accessible therefrom,
or for making emergency repairs therein necessary to prevent damage to the
common areas and facilities or to another apartment or apartments.
SECTION 07:
COMPLIANCE WITH COVENANTS BYE-LAWS AND ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS
Each apartment owner shall comply
strictly with the bye-laws and with the administrative rules and regulations
adopted pursuant thereto, as either of the same may be lawfully amended from
time to time, and with the covenants, conditions and restrictions set forth in
the declaration or in the Deed to his Apartment.
Failure to comply with any of the
same shall be a ground for an action to recover sums due, for damages or
injunctive relief or both maintainable by the Manager or Board of Managers on
behalf of the Association of Apartment Owners or, in a proper case, by an
aggrieved apartment owner.
SECTION 08:
CERTAIN WORKS PROHIBITED
No apartment owner shall do any
work which would jeopardize the soundness or safety of the property, reduce the
value thereof or impair any easement or hereditament nor may any apartment
owner add any material structure or excavate any additional basement or cellar
without in every such case the unanimous consent of all the other apartment
owners being first obtained.
SECTION 09:
ENCUMBRANCES AGAINST APARTMENTS REMOVAL FROM ENCUMBRANCES EFFECT OF PART
PAYMENT
(1) Subsequent to recording the
Declaration as provided in this Act, and while the property remains subject to
this Act, no encumbrance of any nature shall thereafter arise or be effective
against the property. During such period encumbrances may arise or be created
only against each apartment and the percentage of undivided interest in the
common areas and facilities appurtenant to such apartment in the same manner
and under the same conditions in every respect as encumbrances may arise or be
created upon or against any other separate parcel of property subject to
individual ownership:
Provided that, if during the
period any encumbrance has arisen or been created against such apartment and
the percentage of undivided interest in the common areas and facilities,
appurtenant to such apartment, no apartment and such percentage of undivided
interest shall be partitioned or sub -divided in interest:
Provided further that, no labour performed or material furnished with the
consent or at the request of an apartment owner or his agent or his contractor
or subcontractor shall be the basis for a charge or any encumbrance under the
provisions of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882, against the apartment of any
other property or any other apartment owner not expressly consenting to or
requesting the same, except that such express consent shall be deemed to be
given by the owner of any apartment in the case of emergency repairs thereto
Labour performed and material furnished for the common areas and facilities if
duly authorized by the Association of Apartment Owners, the Manager or board of
Managers in accordance with this Act. The Declaration or bye -laws, shall be
deemed to be performed or furnished with the express consent of each apartment
owner and shall be the basis for a charge or encumbrance under the Act
aforesaid against each of the apartments and shall be subject to the provisions
of sub-section (2) of this section.
(2) In the event of a charge or
any encumbrance against two or more apartments becoming effective, the
apartment owners of the separate apartments may remove their apartments and the
percentage of undivided interest in the common areas and facilities appurtenant
to each apartments from the charge or encumbrance by payment of the fractional
or proportional amounts attributable to each of the apartments affected. Such
individual payment shall be computed by reference to the percentages appearing
in the Declaration. Subsequent to any such payment, discharge or other
satisfaction, the apartment and the percentages of undivided interest in the
common areas and facilities appurtenant thereto shall thereafter be free and
clear of the charge or encumbrance so paid, satisfied or discharged. Such
partial payment, satisfaction or discharges shall not prevent the person having
a charge or any other encumbrance from proceeding to enforce his rights against
any apartment and the percentage of undivided interest in the common areas and facilities
appurtenant thereto not so paid, satisfied or discharged.
SECTION 10:
COMMON PROFITS AND EXPENSES
The common profits of the property
shall be distributed among, and the common expenses shall be charged to the
apartment owners according to the percentage of the undivided interest in the
common areas and facilities.
SECTION 11:
CONTENTS OF DECLARATION
(1) The Declaration shall contain
the following particulars, namely;-
(a) Description of the land on
which the building and improvements are or are to be located; and whether the land
is freehold or leasehold 13[and whether any lease of the land is to be granted
in accordance with the second proviso to section 2 of this Act;]
(b) Description of the building
stating the number of storeys and basements, the number of apartment and the
principal materials of which it is or is to be constructed ;
(c) The apartment number of each
apartment, and a statement of its location, approximate area, number of rooms,
and immediate common area to which it has access, and any other data necessary
for its proper identification ;
(d) Description of the common
areas and facilities;
(e) Description of the limited
common areas and facilities, if any, stating to which apartments their use is
reserved;
(f) Value of the property and of
each apartment, and the percentage of undivided interest in the common areas
and facilities appertaining to each apartment and its owner for all purposes,
including voting; and a statement that the apartment and such percentage of
undivided interest are not encumbered in any manner whatsoever on the date of
the Declaration;
(g) Statement of the purposes for
which the building and each of the apartment are intended and restricted as to
use;
(h) The name of a person to
receive service of process in the cases hereinafter provided, together with the
residence or place of business of such persons which shall be within the city,
town or village in which the building is located ;
(i) Provision as to the percentage
of votes by the apartment owners which shall be determinative of whether to
re-build, repair, restore or sell the property in the event of damage or
distinction of all or part of the property ;
(j) Any other detail in connection
with the property which the person executing the Declaration may seem desirable
to set forth. Consistent with this Act;
(k) The method by which the
declaration may be amended, consistent with the provisions of this Act. These
words were deemed always to have been added by Mah. VI of 1974. S. 6.
(2) A true copy of each of the
declaration and bye-laws and all amendments to the Declaration or the bye-laws
shall be filed in the office of the competent authority.
SECTION 12:
CONTENTS OF DEEDS OF APARTMENTS
(1) Deeds of apartments shall include
the followings particulars namely:-
(a) Description of the land as provided
in section 11 of this Act or the post office address of the property, including
in either case the libber, page and date of executing the Declaration, the date
and serial number of its registration under the 14[Registration Act, 1908], and
the date and other reference, if any, of its filing with the competent
authority .
(b) The apartment number of the
apartment in the Declaration and any other data necessary for its proper
identification.
(c) Statement of the use for which
the apartment is intended and restrictions on its use, if any.
(d) The percentage of undivided
interest appertaining to the apartment in the common areas and facilities.
(e) Any further details which the
parties to the Deed may deem desirable to set forth consistent with the Declaration
and this Act.
(2) A true copy of every Deed of
Apartment shall be filed in the office of the competent authority.
SECTION 13:
DECLARATIONS, DEEDS OF APARTMENTS AND COPIES OF FLOOR PLANS TO BE REGISTERED
(1) The Declaration and all
amendments thereto and the Deed of Apartments in respect of each apartment and
the floor plans of the buildings referred to in sub-section (2) shall all be
registered under the 15[Registration Act, 1908.]
(2) Simultaneously with the
registration of the Declaration there shall be filed along with it a set of the
floor plans of the building showing the layout, location apartment numbers and
dimensions of the apartments stating the name of the building or that it has no
name, and bearing the verified statement of an architect certifying that it is
an accurate copy of portions of the plans of the buildings as filed with and
approved by the local authority within whose jurisdiction the building is
located. If such plans do not include a verified statement by such architect
that such plans fully and accurately depict the layout, location, apartment
numbers and dimensions of the apartments as built, these shall be recorded
prior to the first conveyance of any apartment, an amendment to the Declaration
to which shall be attached a verified statement of an architect certifying that
the plans theretofore filed, or being filed simultaneously with such amendment,
fully and accurately depict the layout, location, apartment number and
dimensions of the apartment as built.
(3) In all registration offices a
book called "Register of Declarations and Deeds of Apartment under the
Maharashtra Apartment Ownership Act. 1970" and Index relating thereto
shall be kept. The book and the Index shall be kept in such form and shall
contain such particulars as the State Government may prescribe.
(4) It shall be the duty of every
Manager of Board of Manager to send to the Sub-Register of the sub-district in
which the property containing the apartments situate, or if there is no
Sub-register for the area, to the Registrar of the district in which such
property is situate, a certified copy of the Declaration and Deed of Apartment
made in respect of every apartment contained in the building forming part of
the property together with a memorandum containing such particulars as the
State Government may prescribe.
(5) The Sub-Register, or as the
case may be, the Registrar shall register the Declaration along with floor
plans of the building and the Deed of Apartments in the Register of
Declarations and Deeds of Apartment under the Maharashtra Apartment Ownership
Act, 1970 and shall also enter particulars in the Index kept under sub-section
(3). Any person acquiring any apartment of any apartment owner shall be deemed
to have notice" of the Declaration and of the Deed of Apartment as from
the date of its registration under this section.
(6) Except as provided in this
section, the provisions of the16[Registration Act, 1908], shall mutatis
mutandis apply to the registration of such Declaration and Deeds of Apartment,
and the words and expressions used in this section but not defined in this Act
shall have the meanings assigned to them in the 16[Registration Act, 1908].
SECTION 14:
REMOVAL FROM PROVISIONS OF ACT
(1) All the apartment owners may
remove a property from the provisions of this Act by an Instrument to that
effect duly executed: Provided that, the holders of all charges and other
encumbrances affecting any of the apartments consent thereto or agree, in
either case by instrument duly executed, that their charges or encumbrances be
transferred to the percentage of the undivided interest of the apartment owner
in the property as herein after provided.
(2) Upon removal of the property
from the provision of this Act, the property shall be deemed to be owned in
common by the apartment owner. The undivided interest in the property owned in
common which shall appertain to each apartment owner shall be the percentage of
undivided interest previously owned by such owner in the common areas and
facilities.
SECTION 15: REMOVAL
ON BAR TO SUBSEQUENT RE-SUBMISSION OF PROPERTY TO ACT
The removal provided for in the
preceding section shall in no way bar the subsequent re-submission of the
property to the provision of this Act.
SECTION 16: BYE
LAWS, THEIR CONTENTS
(1) The administration of every
property shall be governed by bye-laws a true copy of which shall be annexed to
the Declaration. No modification of or amendment to the bye-laws shall be
valid, unless set forth in an amendment to the Declaration, and such amendment
is duly recorded, and a copy thereof is duly filed with the competent
authority.
(2) The bye-laws shall provide for
the following matters, namely:-
(a) The election from among the
apartment owners of a Board of Managers, the number of persons constituting the
same, and that the terms of at least one –third of the members of such Board
shall expire annually ; the powers and duties of the Board; the compensation,
if any of the members of the Board ; the method of removal from office of
members of the Board ; and whether or not the Board may engage the services of
a Secretary, a Manager or Managing Agent and specifying which of the powers and
duties granted to the Board by this Act, or otherwise may be delegated by the
board to either or both of them;
(b) Method of calling meetings of
the apartment owners; what percentage, if other than a majority of apartment
owners, shall constitute a quorum;
(c) Election of a President from
among the members of the Board of Managers who shall preside over the meeting
of such Board and of the Association of Apartment Owners;
(d) Election of a Secretary who
shall keep a minute book wherein resolutions shall be recorded;
(e) Election of a Treasurer who
shall keep the financial records and books of accounts;
(f) Maintenance, repair and replacement
of the common area and facilities and payments therefor;
(g) Manner of collecting from the
apartment owners their share of the common expenses;
(h) Designation and removal of
persons employed for the maintenance, repair and replacement of the common
areas and facilities;
(i) The method of adopting and of
amending administrative rules and regulations governing the details of the
operation and use of the common areas and facilities;
(j) Such restrictions on the
requirements respecting the use and maintenance of the apartments and the use
of the common areas and facilities not set forth in the
Declaration, as are designed to
prevent unreasonable interference with the use of their respective apartments
and of the common areas and facilities by the several apartment owners;
(k) The percentage of the votes
required to amend the bye-laws.
(3) The bye-laws may also provide
for the following matters, namely:-
(a) Subject to the provisions of
this Act, provision for regulating transfer or partition of any apartment and
percentage of undivided interest in the common areas and facilities appurtenant
to such apartment, subject to such terms and conditions as may be specified in
the bye -laws;
(b) Provisions enabling the Board
of Managers to retain certain areas of the building and lease to non residents
for commercial purposes and for distribution of resulting proceeds to the
apartment owners as income or application thereof in reduction of their common
charges for maintaining the building;
(c) Any other provisions, not
inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, relating to the audit and
accounts and administration of the property and annual and special general
meetings, annual report and the like.
SECTION 17:
WAIVER OF USE OF COMMON AREAS AND FACILITIES ABANDONMENT OF APARTMENTS
No apartment owner may exempt
himself from liability for his contribution towards the common expenses by
waiver of the use of enjoyment of any of the common areas and facilities, or by
abandonment of his apartment.
SECTION 18:
SEPARATE ASSESSMENT
Notwithstanding anything to the
contrary contained in any law relating to local authorities, each apartment and
its percentage of undivided interest in the common areas and facilities
appurtenant to such apartment (being an apartment submitted to the provision of
this Act) shall be deemed to be separate property for the purpose of assessment
to tax on lands and buildings leviable under such law and shall be assessed and
taxed accordingly; and for this purpose, a local authority shall make all suitable
rules to carry out the provisions of this section. Neither the building, the
property nor any of the common areas and facilities shall be deemed to be
separate property for the purposes of the levy of such tax.
SECTION 19:
CHARGE FOR PROPERTY OF COMMON EXPENSES
All sums assessed by the
Association of Apartment Owners but unpaid for the share of the common expenses
chargeable to any apartment shall constitute a charge on such apartment prior
to all other charges except; only (i) charge, if any, on the apartment for
payment of Government and municipal taxes, and (ii) all sums unpaid on a first
mortgage of the apartment.
SECTION 20: JOINT
AND SEVERAL LIABILITY OF VENDOR ETC. FOR UNPAID COMMON EXPENSES
Upon the sale of an apartment, the
purchaser of the apartment shall be jointly and severally liable with the
vendor for all unpaid assessments against the latter for his share of the
common expenses upto the time of the sale without prejudice to the purchaser's
or grantee's right to recover from the vendor the amount paid by the purchaser
or grantee therefor. Any such purchaser shall be entitled to a statement from
the Secretary of Board of Managers, setting forth the amount of the unpaid
assessment against the vendor and such purchaser or grantee shall not be liable
for, nor shall the apartment sold, be subject to a charge for any unpaid share
of common expenses against such apartment accrued prior to such sale or bequest
in excess of the amount therein set forth.
SECTION 21:
INSURANCE
The Manager or Board of Managers,
if required by the Declaration or the bye-laws by a majority of the apartment
owners, or at the request of the mortgagee having a first mortgage covering an
apartment, shall have the authority to, and shall obtain insurance for the
property against loss or damage by fire, and such other hazards under such
terms and for such amounts as shall be required, or requested. Such insurance
coverage shall be written on the property in the name of such Manager or of the
Board of Managers of the Association of the Apartment Owners as trustee for
each of the apartment owners in the percentages established in the Declaration.
Premiums shall be common expenses. Provisions for such insurance shall be
without prejudice to the right of each apartment owner to insure his own
apartment for his benefit.
SECTION 22:
DISPOSITION OF PROPERTY, DESTRUCTION OR DAMAGE
If within sixty days of the date
of damage or destruction to all or part of the property, it is not determined
by the Association of Apartment Owners to repair, reconstruct or rebuild, then
and in that event, -
(a) the property shall be deemed
to be owned in common by the apartment owners;
(b) the undivided interest in the
property owned in common which shall appertain to each apartment owner shall be
the percentage of the undivided interest previously owned by such owner in the
common areas and facilities;
(c) any encumbrances affecting any
of the apartments shall be deemed to be transferred in accordance with the
existing priority to the percentage of the undivided interest of the apartment
owner in the property as provided herein;
(d) the property shall be subject
to an action for partition at the suit of any apartment owner, in which event
the net proceeds of sale together with the net proceeds of the insurance on the
property, if any, shall be considered as one fund and shall be divided among
all the apartment owners in percentage equal to the percentage of undivided
interest owned by each owner in the property after first paying out, all the
respective shares of the apartment owners to the extent sufficient for the
purpose and all charges on the undivided interest in the property owned by each
apartment owner.
SECTION 23:
ACTION
Without limiting the rights of any
apartment owner, actions may be brought by the Manager or Board of Managers, in
either case in the discretion of the Board
of Managers, on behalf of two or
more of the apartment owners as their respective interest may appear, with
respect to any cause of action relating to the common areas and facilities or
more than one apartment. Service of process on two or more apartment owners in
any action relating to the common areas and facilities or more than one
apartment may be made on the person designated in the Declaration to receive
service of process.
SECTION 24: ACT
TO BE BINDING ON APARTMENT OWNERS, TENANTS ETC
(1) All apartment owners, tenants
of such owners, employees of owners and tenants, or any other person that may
in any manner use property or any part thereof submitted to the provisions of
this Act shall be subject to this Act and to the Declaration and the bye-laws
of the Association of Apartment Owners adopted pursuant to the provisions of
this Act.
(2) All agreements, decisions and
determinations lawfully made by the Association of Apartment Owners in
accordance with the voting percentages established under this Act, Declaration
or bye-laws, shall be deemed to be binding on all apartment owners.
SECTION 24A:
POWER TO EXEMPT FROM STAMP DUTY, REGISTRATION FEE AND COURT FEE, POWER TO REFUND
17(1) The State Government by
notification in the Official Gazette, may reduce or remit whether prospectively
or retrospectively-
(a) the stamp duty with which
under any law relating to stamp duty for the time being in force, instruments
or documents executed by or on behalf of a promoter, an apartment -owner or
association of apartment owners relating to any of the purposes of the Act are
respectively chargeable;
(b) any fee payable by or on
behalf of any promoter, apartment - owner or association of apartment owners in
relation to instruments or documents referred to in clause(a) under any law
relating to the registration of documents or to Court fees, for the time being
in force which the State Government is competent to levy.
(2) The State Government may
refund the amount of any duty or fee paid in pursuance of any law referred to
in sub-section (1) in such circumstances, to such extent and subject to such
terms and conditions, if any, as the State Government may by order determine.]
SECTION 25: POWER
TO MAKE RULES
(1) The State Government may,
subject to the condition of previous publication by notification in the
Official Gazette, make rules for carrying into effect the provisions of this
Act.
(2) Every rule made under this
section shall be laid as soon as may be after it is made before each House of
the State Government Legislature while it is in session for a total period of
thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two successive
sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session in which it is so laid or
the session immediately following both Houses agree in making any modification
in the rules or both Houses agree that the rules should not be made and notify
such decision in the Official Gazette, the rules shall, from the date of publication
of such notification have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect,
as the case may be, so however that any such modification or annulment shall be
without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done or omitted to be
done under that rule.
SECTION 26:
REMOVAL OF DOUBTS
For the removal of doubt, it is
hereby declared that the provisions of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882,
shall, in so far as they are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act,
apply to every apartment together with its undivided interest in the common
areas and facilities appurtenant to such apartment as those provisions apply in
relation to any immovable property, and the provision of this Act shall take
effect, notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any contract.
SECTION 27:
AMENDMENT TO CERTAIN ACTS
The 18[enactment] specified in the
Schedule hereto shall be amended in the manner and to the extent specified in
the third column thereof.
SECTION 28:
SEVERABILITY
If any provision of this Act or
any section, sentence, clause, phrase or word or application thereof in any
circumstances is held invalid, the validity of the remainder of this Act and of
the application of any such provision, section, sentence, clause, phrase or
word, in any other circumstances shall not be affected thereby.
MAHARASHTRA APARTMENT OWNERSHIP RULES,
1970
8th June, 1972
In exercise of the powers
conferred by subsection (1) of section 25 of the Maharashtra Apartment
Ownership Act, 1970(Mah. XV of 1971), the Government of
Maharashtra hereby makes the
following rules, the same having been previously published as required by the
said sub-section (1) of Section 25, namely:
RULE 01: SHORT
TITLE
Malh. Apartment Ownership Rules
1972 These rules may be called the Maharashtra Apartment Ownership Rules, 1972.
RULE 02:
DEFINITIONS
(1) In these rules, unless the
context requires otherwise :- (a) "Act" means the Maharashtra
Apartment Ownership Act, 1970; (b) "Form" means a form
appended to these rules; (c)
"Section" means a section of the Act.
(2) Words and expressions used in
these rules but not defined therein shall have the meaning respectively
assigned to them in the Act.
RULE 03:
DECLARATION UNDER SECTION 2
Application of Form A.
(1) The Declaration to be executed
and registered under section 2 by the sole owner or all the owners shall be in
form "A".
(2) The declaration shall be
signed by the apartment owner and verified in the presence of a Magistrate or
any other person competent to administer oath and shall be filed with the
competent authority within thirty days from the date of its execution or with
in such longer period as that authority may permit.
RULE 04:
CONVEYANCE OF APARTMENTS
Deed of Apartment. All transfers of apartments by the sole owner or all the
owners of the property (being an owner or owners who has or have executed and registered
a Declaration in Form "A") to an apartment owner and subsequent
transfer from an apartment owner to his transferee shall be by a Deed of Apartment.
RULE 05: PARTIES
TO DEEDS OF APARTMENT
Apartment Owner. In the case of the first Deed of Apartment, the party of
the first part shall be either the sole owner or all the owners of the property
who has or have executed and registered the Declaration in form "A"
and the party of the second part shall be the apartment owner. In the case of
subsequent Deed of Apartment, the party of the first part shall be the
apartment owner and the party of the second part shall be his transferee
RULE 06: CONTENTS
OF DEEDS OF APARTMENTS
Contents of Deed of Apartments.
(1) The first Deed of Apartment
shall be accompanied by a copy of the relevant floor plans of the building
filed under sub-section (2) of section 13 and by a certificate of an architect
certifying that the said floor plan shows the number and dimensions of the
apartment being conveyed and of the immediately adjoining apartment and that
the said floor plan fully and accurately depicts the lay-out of the apartment,
its location, dimensions, approximate area, main entrance, common areas and facilities
and limited common areas and facilities, if any, to which it has access, as
built.
(2) In addition, the first and
every subsequent Deed of Apartment shall include the following particulars,
namely:-
(a) Description of the land as
provided in section 11 or the post office address of the property, including,
in either case, the liber, page and date of executing the
Declaration, the date and serial
number or its registration under the Registration Act, 1908 and the date and
other reference, if any, of its filing with the competent authority ;
(b) The apartment number of the
apartment in the Declaration and any other data necessary for its proper
identification;
(c) Statement of the use for which
the apartment is intended and restrictions on its use, if any;
(d) The percentage of undivided
interest appertaining to the apartment in the common areas and facilities;
(e) Any further details which the
parties to the Deed may deem desirable to set forth consistent with the
Declaration and the Act;
(3) The provisions of this rule
may be given effect to by referring to the relevant provisions made in the
declaration for the purpose of avoiding repetition of those relevant provisions
in the Deed of Apartment.
(4) The apartment owner shall file
a true copy of every Deed of Apartment to which he is a party in the office of
the competent authority within thirty days from the date of its execution.
RULE 07: FORM OF
BOOK UNDER SECTION 13(3) AND OF INDEX THERETO
Form "C". Form
"D".
(1) The Register of Declarations
and Deeds of Apartments for the purpose of sub-section (3) of section 13 shall
be in Form "C" .
(2) The index to such register
shall be in Form "D".
RULE 08: FORM OF
MEMORANDUM UNDER SECTION 13(4)
The memorandum required to be
filed by the Manager or Board of Managers for the purpose of sub-section (4) of
section 13 shall be in form "E".
