(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 shall consent thereto or agree, in either case by instruments duly executed, that their charges or encumbrances be transferred to the percentage of the undivided interest of the apartment owner in the property as hereinafter provided.
(2) Upon the removal of the property from the provisions of this Act, the property shall be deemed to be owned in common by the apartment owners. The undivided interest in the property owned in common which shall apportion to each 273 apartment owner shall be the percentage of undivided interest previously owned by such owner in the common areas and facilities.
Removal no bar to subsequent submission of property to this Act
15. The removal of the property from the provisions of this Act as provided for in the preceding section shall in no way bar the subsequent resubmission of the property to the provisions of this Act.
Bye-laws and their contents
16.(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-law 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 Board, 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 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 members of the Board of Managers who shall preside over the meetings 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 areas 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;
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(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; and
(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; and
(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, annul report etc.
Waiver of use of common areas and facilities, abandonment of apartment
17. No apartment owner may exempt himself from liability for his contribution towards the common expenses by waiver of the use or enjoyment of any of the common areas and facilities or by abandonment of his apartment.
Separate assessment
18. 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 provisions 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.
Charge on property for common expenses
19. 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 275 such apartment in priority to all other charges, except only to (i) the charge if any of the apartment for payment of Government and Municipal taxes and (ii) all sums unpaid on a first mortgage of the apartment.
Joint and several liability of vendor, etc.
20.(1) 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.
(2) A purchaser referred to in sub-section (1) shall be entitled to a statement from the Secretary or 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.
Insurance
21.(1) The Manager or Board of Managers, if required by the Declaration or the byelaws or by a majority of the apartment owners, or at the request of a mortgagee having a first mortgage covering the property, 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.
(2) Insurance referred to in sub-section (1) shall be written in the name of the 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.
(3) Premiums in respect of insurance referred to in sub-section (1) shall be common expenses and such insurance shall be without prejudice to the right of each apartment owner to insure his own apartment for his benefit.
Disposition of property, destruction and damage
22. 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;
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(c) any encumbrance 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.
Action
23. 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.
Act to be binding on apartment owners, tenants, etc.
24.(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.
Power to make rules
25.(1) The 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) All rules made and all notifications issued under this Act shall, as soon as possible after they are made or issued, be placed on the table of the Legislative Assembly of the Union territory and shall be subject to such modification by way of amendment or repeal as the Legislative Assembly may make within fourteen days on which the House actually sits either in the same session or in more than one session:
Provided however that any modifications or annulment shall not affect the validity of any thing already done and acted upon under such rules and notifications.
277 Removal of doubt
26. For the removal of doubt, the provisions of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 (Central Act 4 of 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 provisions of this Act shall take effect notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any contract.
Severability
27. If any provision of this Act or any section, sentence, clause, phrase or word, 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.
_______ STATEMENT OF OBJECTS AND REASONS FOR ACT NO.8 OF 1987 People who are required to reside within the periphery of town by virtue of their employment, business etc., have a tendency to look out for residential houses within the short radius of the town. This has resulted in a vast demand for accommodation and as such public experience much hardship to have a residence of their own at a reasonable cost within the periphery of the town.
To mitigate the hardship, experienced by the public, the Puducherry Housing Board is contemplating construction of multi-storeyed flats for providing housing to the public in the periphery of the Puducherry town. In order to provide for ownership of individual apartments in a building after construction and to make such apartment a heritable and transferable property, it is considered that a separate law may be made for the purpose.
The Organisations and Undertakings, which are engaged wholly in construction of houses shall also be able to obtain the benefits if they construct multi-storeyed housing complex and allot apartments on a flat house system as per the provisions of this Act.
This Bill seeks to achieve the above object.
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