I am one of the flat owners in a building of 20 flats and seven shops. The promoter has sold all flats and shops. Our apartment has already been registered as a cooperative society but the promoter is yet to hand over the building to it.

• What is the procedure to take over the building from the promoter' What are the documents he should hand over to the society'

• What are the documents he should provide for our elevator'

• The common electric meter is in the promoter’s name and commercial tariff applies. How do we bring the meter under the society’s name and pay domestic tariff'

• Maintenance charge is now taken as a lump-sum amount. What is the procedure to collect it' How should the shop owners pay the maintenance charge when they are not using water and common lights'

• The promoter has sold the common area below the staircase on the ground floor, which he has promised all of us verbally as a parking place for two wheelers/bicycles. How can we recover this area'

Ashok Mandal, on email

• If the titles of all flats and shops have been transferred, there is nothing much to do to take over the maintenance. What the promoter needs to give is the account of maintenance, the building sanction plan and other necessary documents. If he is unwilling to hand them over, stop paying the maintenance and let the society take it up.

• The promoter needs to hand over the licence of the elevator.

• If the shops are not using the common meter, domestic tariff will apply. There are two ways of doing it. Seek transfer with the signature of the promoter or apply for a fresh meter and transfer all the common lines to it.

• Maintenance charge depends on the size of the flat. Bigger the super built area, higher the charge. However, if the shops are not using water and electricity, their contribution should be less. The figure has to be negotiated.

• If the space below the staircase falls under covered area, the promoter can sell it. Check the building sanction plan and see if he has the approval to do it. Verbal commitment holds no ground.

We are staying in a house that my father had built on land recorded in my grandmother’s name. My father has only one married, well-established younger sister. Does she have a claim on the property'

We are staying in a house that my father had built on land recorded in my grandmother’s name. My father has only one married, well-established younger sister. Does she have a claim on the property'

A.K. Dutta, Calcutta

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