rental assistance Archives - Page 2 of 2

Can Housing Societies Restrict Bachelors

Housing societies too have been in the news for discriminating based on religion, community, food habits and Marital Status. Out of these, the most common issue is the issue of permitting the stay of bachelors. Some societies allow working executives but do not allow students where as a few others do not allow both.

Can Housing Societies restrict the members of the society from renting it out to Bachelors? Is it legal?

Consumer Act

Under the Consumer Act, the Society is classified as a Service Provider. The Society’s responsibility is to provide Common Services & and to provide and take care of the Common Amenities to its members, which also include the tenants of the members. The society does not have ownership of the property. Therefore they do not have any say on the type of tenants that can be allowed to stay in the property. It is the sole discretion of the owner to rent out his property to any type of tenant.

As per the Fundamental Rights, under the Indian Constitution, all citizens have the fundamental rights to move or stay anywhere in India except for Prohibited or Restricted Areas. Housing Societies and Apartments do not come under the Prohibited or Restricted areas. Therefore for no reason, can there be any restriction on a Bachelor Tenants from moving into society. By not allowing bachelors it is a gross violation of the Article 19(1) of the Constitution of India.

The societies have the power to make bye laws and resolutions approved by the majority of the votes for smooth functioning of the society. These provide specific guide lines for the registration of the society, Do’s & Don’ts, common area maintenance, rules regarding leasing and selling of houses in the society, fines for non payment of maintenance on time and other practices. There is a tendency of the housing societies to deny tenancy to bachelors based on their byelaws / resolutions.

The Legal Experts say:

1. The Society cannot discriminate against bachelors and cannot charge any extra fees / fine for renting it out to Bachelors. The society can impose fine on non payment of the maintenance charges.
2. The Society can only impose restrictions on whether the property can be let out for commercial purpose.
3. The Society can fix conduct rules for the safety of the dwellers.
4. There is no law in the Constitution that a property cannot be rented out to Bachelors.
5. Any regulation which infringes on the fundamental rights of an individual can be challenged in the court of law.
6. Even if your society takes a decision based on the majority of the votes, these decisions are not valid in the court of law.
7. The Housing Society regulations do not have the same stature as that of a law.
8. The Societies cannot overrule the fundamental rights or create a rule which is against the constitution.

Prepare Your Property for Rent

Before you go on to advertise your property, show the property to the prospective tenants, be sure to do the basics of preparing the property for rent.

In my personal experience, we visited a property which was not cleaned for several months. We visited the property and my executive told me. The property needs to be cleaned and painted. On having a closer look, he realized that the house was painted but due to the dust all over the house, the impression perceived is that the house is not painted.

The impression or the feel that a prospective tenant gets when he enters the house influences him to take a decision about the property (and of course the Owner / Care Taker). Nothing will turn off a prospective tenant than a dirty place.

A clean and presentable property with all electrical fittings in place, no leaks, no dirty walls or kitchen or toilets will influence the prospective tenant to confirm the property immediately.

No doubts that the property will be made ready before handing over to the tenant but the advantage of getting it ready before showing the property is not to miss a prospective tenant and the advantages of showing a prepared property to a prospective tenant are:

The tenant gets a positive impression of the owner and the property.
The tenant is clear of the condition of the property and all the things that have been provided by the owner and gets a message that anything extra may have an impact on the rent.
It gets an indirect message to the tenant that he should return back the property in the same condition.

Steps to Get Your Property Rent-Ready

Each house is different and will have unique things to pay attention to. The steps mentioned below will be a guide line to prepare your property for rent and can be implemented:

Once the house is vacated by the tenant, it may be messy at times. First clear the unwanted stuff from the house from both inside and outside the house.
Inspect the house thoroughly and make a list out the list of repairs and classify them as Major or Minor Repairs. Fix the Major Repairs first.
Pay attention to the fittings and fixtures and appliances inside the house and see that they are in good working condition. Replace any broken switches, plug points, rusted towel rods, rusted curtain rods.
Pay attention to the toilet – stained toilet seat covers, stained toilets put off a prospective tenant and turns him away from the property and he may prefer another property.
Give special attention to the kitchen – remove the oil stains and repair any damage to the wood work or the modular trays, handles, hinges if rusted are to be replaced.
Freshen up the walls by painting or touch up painting as per the condition of the walls. The condition of the walls can make a difference between renting it out and renting it out faster.
Thorough cleaning of the house is most essential. This includes walls, floors, fans, lights, cupboards, doors , windows, grills and special attention needs to be given to the toilet and kitchen.

Property Valuation and Property Price

Purchasing of property is the most important investment which people make in their life time. The economic forces of demand and supply are the major factor in deciding the price of any product and the real estate is no exception. The Value of the property is the function of demand and supply and if the demand for the house increase faster than the supply, then the prices go up and vice versa. A few of the factor that affect the value of the property is listed below:

Infrastructural Development – Infrastructure is the major consideration for home seekers. Locations having good infrastructure have a higher value. Facilities like accessible roads, railways and other means of public transport have been seen to have a higher price. Proximity of Social infrastructure such as schools, hospitals, super markets, retail stores, shopping establishments, parks hospitals are priced higher.
Location – The location of the property is the most obvious factor when it comes to valuing a property. The location is not just a geographical location, also the closeness to key amenities and facilities. The location includes the quality of the area of the city or town and properties in prime location get a higher price. Properties located in rural areas cost less.
Geographical Stability – By Geographical Stability we mean the areas that are prone to the effects of the natural phenomena. If natural showers or rains cause water to be stagnant in the area, then these areas are not preferred. Similarly areas prone to natural phenomena like flooding, tsunamis, water scarcity are not preferred.
Age and Condition – The Land on which your house or apartment is built usually increases over a period of time but the structure is depreciated as the years pass by. Properties that are well kept and maintained well are preferred than properties that need renovation or works to be done. The buyer will also take into account the costs involved for renovation.
Size and Design – Houses that are well designed with optimum use of the space and natural sunlight and ventilation increases value of your property.
View – Any buyer will check on the view from the windows / balcony and will prefer an unblocked good view than a blocked one. Property with blocked view will have a lower value than a property with a good unblocked view.
Surrounding Area – What is located around your neighbourhood will have a great impact on the price of your house. This also includes the plans for the neighbouring areas situated like an upcoming project or new infrastructural development coming up in the near future.

Property Valuation

Property Valuation is the estimate of the current market value of your property based on the factors mentioned above and other economic factors, etc. Property Price is the price that is executed between the buyer and the seller and this price is either below or above the market value. The motive of the buyer is to buy the property at the lowest possible price and the motive of the seller is to sell it at the highest possible price.

If the seller is in need of urgent money, the buyer can use it to his advantage. Similarly if the property is appealing to the buyer and is his dream home, he will be willing to pay a higher price, the seller can use it to his advantage. The emotional and personal needs of the buyer and the seller also play a very important part in the price of the property and the one who wins is …………….

The Roles and Responsibilities of Property Manager

A Property Manager is a third party person or a firm hired by the owner of a property to manage and maintain his property and to handle the day to day affairs of the property. The property could be residential, commercial, industrial ranging from single homes to large apartment complexes – Roles Responsibilities of Property Manager.

When the owner is not able to handle and attend to the details or not interested in doing or handling the day to day affairs, he hires a property manager for a fees. Therefore the Property Manager’s main responsibility is towards the owner and secondly towards the agency for which he works. The Property Manager has to periodically report to the owner with necessary updates on the property and the owner may also delegate specific tasks apart from the regular tasks that is carried out by the Property Manager which is done for an extra fees mutually agreed upon.

A Property Manager has to arrange for a wide variety of services as per the needs, requirements and goals of the ownership. He has to deal with the regular services and also be quick enough to tackle the emergency issues services as and when it arises.

Roles Responsibilities of Property Manager

Property Manager should have a good understanding of the market value and rental values and also be able to understand the rent where the property is located and its comparison with properties in the same locality for any difference in rent. Property Managers should advice the owner on the right rent and fix the right rent to attract the tenants.

One of the major responsibilities of the Property Manager is Rental Assistance. It starts from finding a good tenant through reference or advertisements and other marketing techniques. On identification of a tenant, proper screening is to be performed by the tenant. A good property manager will ensure a long term tenancy and prompt payment of rent on time every month. If any point of time, the tenant does not pay the rent, the property manager should get to the core of the situation and ensure proper payment of rent and may have to handle and evict the tenant.

The Property Manager handles the lease with necessary protection to the owner and his property. The Property Manager is responsible for listing the amenities when a tenant moves in.

Similarly he is responsible for inspecting the property when the tenant moves out and determine the amount of deduction from the security deposit and cleaning the property and bringing it back to rentable condition. The property Management should be able to fill in the vacant property in minimum time by his Rental Assistance Service.

Property Managers are responsible for physical management of the property and has to be well equipped to handle any Repairs or Maintenance irrespective whether it is vacant or occupied by the tenant.

The maintenance could be a regular maintenance like servicing of the amenities in the house or any emergency maintenance that may arise during the tenure of the maintenance. Overall the Property Manager should provide excellent Property Management Services.

Tag Archives: rental assistance