Property lawyer in Thane for redevelopment, society flats and title

Meet us in Sanpada, or work with us online

We do not have an office in Thane. The office is at Office 219, Haware Intelligentia Park, Plot No. 33, Sector-24, Sanpada-Turbhe Road, Navi Mumbai 400783. From Thane it is a drive down the Thane-Belapur Road, or a ride on the trans-harbour line to Turbhe or Sanpada station. Hours are 9 AM to 6 PM, Monday to Saturday, and meetings are by appointment, so that the advocate has gone through your file before you sit down.

You can come once with the society file or the developer's agreement and do everything after that remotely. Or you need not travel at all: a video call works for a first review, and drafts and opinions come to you by email. If a matter needs an appearance at a Thane sub-registrar's office, the Co-operative Court or a civil court in Thane, we set out at the first consultation how it will be handled and what it will cost.

Thane files are handled by Adv. Swanand Pandit, Advocate, High Court of Bombay, and Adv. Ashok Ingle. To book a meeting, call +91 8291849797 or +91 9167710454.

What does a property lawyer in Thane handle?

Thane's housing runs from older society buildings in Naupada, Panchpakhadi and other parts of Thane West to towers along Ghodbunder Road and Pokhran Road. Much of the older stock is near the end of its life, which is why redevelopment questions come first.

Society redevelopment and the 79A directions

A housing society that wants to redevelop must follow the directions the state issued on 4 July 2019 under Section 79A of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960. The decision is taken at a special general body meeting with a quorum of two-thirds of the members. The developer is chosen in the presence of an officer from the registrar's office, and the appointment needs written consent from at least 51 per cent of the members. A project management consultant, tenders and a draft agreement all come before that vote.

For each member, the document that decides the outcome is the permanent alternate accommodation agreement (PAAA) signed with the developer. We read what it promises you in carpet area, the monthly rent while you are out and how it rises, shifting costs, the corpus payment and the date for handing over the new flat. We also look at what security the society holds and what members can do if work stops. Our page on documents required for redevelopment lists the society's paperwork in full.

Cluster redevelopment in Thane

Thane Municipal Corporation's cluster scheme works differently. Instead of one society rebuilding, the corporation prepares urban renewal plans covering whole areas of old, dangerous and unauthorised buildings and redevelops them together. Work began in Kisan Nagar, and the first phase also took in areas such as Kopri, Rabodi, Hazuri, Lokmanya Nagar and the Tekdi Bungalow area of Panchpakhadi. TMC has set up a separate company to carry the scheme out.

For an owner, a cluster changes three things. Eligibility for a new home is decided by survey and by the scheme's rules, not by a society vote. The area you receive follows the scheme's norms rather than a negotiated PAAA. And the timing depends on the whole cluster moving, not just your building. Before you buy or sell in an area marked for a cluster, find out whether the building falls inside an urban renewal plan and what the survey recorded for that flat.

MahaRERA Thane projects

For a new flat on Ghodbunder Road, Kolshet, Balkum or Majiwada, check the project on the MahaRERA portal: the registration, the promoter's disclosures, the sanctioned plan, the declared completion date and any complaints. Section 13 of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 stops a promoter taking more than 10 per cent of the price before a registered agreement for sale. If possession is late, Section 18 lets you withdraw with a refund and interest, or stay and claim interest for the delay. Our page on RERA complaints and builder disputes covers the filing.

Society flat transfer in Thane

Resale of a society flat is two transfers: the registered agreement for sale, and the transfer of the seller's shares and membership in the society. The society's register, not just the deed, decides who gets notices and votes, which matters a great deal in a building heading for redevelopment. Ask the society, not the seller, for a dues statement, and read recent minutes for anything about the flat. If the member and the society fall out, the Co-operative Court decides the dispute under Section 91 of the Act.

Deemed conveyance

Many older Thane buildings never had the land conveyed to the society by the builder, and without conveyance a society struggles to redevelop or borrow. Under Section 11 of the Maharashtra Ownership Flats Act, 1963, the society may ask the District Deputy Registrar of Co-operative Societies, Thane for a certificate of deemed conveyance, and then register the conveyance on the strength of it.

Which office or court deals with a Thane property issue?

A Thane property question usually starts at one of three places: the sub-registrar for documents, Thane Municipal Corporation for the building, or the co-operative department for the society.

Before each monsoon TMC lists dangerous buildings by category, from C1, which must be vacated and pulled down, to C3, which needs minor repairs. A C1 or C2A notice changes the timing of everything, including redevelopment, so check the current list before you sign.

Step by step: buying a flat in a Thane building due for redevelopment

1. Find out the stage. Has the society passed its resolution, appointed a developer, registered the development agreement and received TMC approvals?
2. Read the development agreement and the seller's PAAA. These show what the seller is entitled to and whether that entitlement can pass to a buyer.
3. Search the title. The sub-registrar's records, the property card or 7/12 extract, and a separate check for court and society disputes.
4. Check TMC's records. Confirm the dangerous building category, the approvals and the property tax position.
5. Prepare the agreement for sale. It transfers the seller's PAAA entitlement along with the flat, and records the society's and developer's written acknowledgement.
6. Pay stamp duty and register. Duty is paid online, and both sides appear at a Thane sub-registrar's office with two witnesses.
7. Update the society and the developer. Get the share certificate endorsed, your name on the developer's list of members, and rent payments in your name.

The last step is the one buyers skip. Until the developer's records change, the rent and the new flat are still tied to the seller.

Documents to ask for in a Thane property deal

• Every earlier agreement in the chain, with its Index II.
• Share certificate, society dues statement and the society's no-objection letter.
• Commencement and occupancy certificates from TMC.
• Property card or 7/12 extract for the land.
• Society resolutions, the developer's appointment letter, the registered development agreement and the member's PAAA.
• Recent TMC property tax bills and receipts.
• MahaRERA registration certificate and the builder's agreement, for a new flat.
• Deemed conveyance certificate or conveyance deed, if the land has been conveyed.

A 30-year search of the sub-registrar's records shows registered mortgages and transfers. Litigation needs a separate court search, because it shows up in the registry only if a lis pendens notice was registered.

Stamp duty, timelines and what decides the cost in Thane

In the Thane Municipal Corporation area, stamp duty on a flat is usually 7%: 5% duty, a 1% surcharge in place of local body tax and a 1% metro cess. A woman buying in her own name usually gets a 1% concession. Duty is charged on the higher of the agreement value and the ready reckoner rate. The registration fee is 1% of the value up to a maximum of Rs 30,000. Both are set by notification, and we confirm the current figures when the agreement is drafted.

How long things usually take

A resale with a clean file is usually registered two to four weeks after the title report. A deemed conveyance application usually takes a few months once the papers are complete. Redevelopment itself usually takes several years from choosing a developer to moving into the new flat, which is why the rent and delay clauses in the PAAA matter so much.

What decides our fee

For a resale, our agreement to sale with a title search report is priced from Rs 18,000. Reviewing a development agreement and PAAA depends on their length and on what has been negotiated already. A dispute depends on the forum and the stage it has reached.

Mistakes to avoid with Thane property

• Buying in a building under redevelopment without reading the PAAA. You are buying an entitlement, and the agreement says what it is.
• Assuming society terms apply inside a cluster. In an urban renewal plan, the scheme's rules decide eligibility and area.
• Taking the seller's word on society dues. Get the statement from the society in writing.
• Paying more than 10 per cent before a registered agreement. Section 13 of the RERA Act forbids it for a reason.
• Skipping the society transfer. Notices, votes and redevelopment benefits keep going to the seller.
• Ignoring the dangerous building list. A C1 notice can mean vacating within days of buying.
• Treating a registry search as a litigation search. Court cases need a search of their own.

Property help in Navi Mumbai, Mumbai and nearby

Thane buyers often compare flats across the creek. Our Kharghar property lawyer page covers CIDCO leasehold flats in Navi Mumbai, and the Mumbai property lawyer page covers the island city and suburbs.