Yesterday,the redevloper called up to inform that the deal of a flat was signed up with someone else from whom he had got a token as a gesture of the finalisation of the same.The amount paid was anything but token-it must be surely more than a lakh considering that the flat is being sold for more than seventy five lakhs.
We had been negotiating with the builder for the said flat since the last three months but had opted out of giving any money as token or otherwise.We were in the process of seeking a loan from a bank & we were awaiting the bank clearance before making any payments.The bank took its own time which quickly turned from days into weeks & months before they raised some queries.We asked the builder to answer them.The bank at being pestered by the builder at one time, told him, that as he had no locus standi ,only we should talk with the bankers.This in effect, led to situations wherein we were shuttling between the two but, still, the bankers remained non-committal.The builder also was trying to produce one document after another when asked for, always questioning as to why the bankers needed it.He was of the opinion that we had chosen the wrong bank.
The bank was trying to scrutinise thousands of loan applications & maybe trying to find faults with all of them & so this was delaying the process.Moreover,the bank staff at some times was reporting sick -whether they were sick or had caught infection from Jet or Air India is a matter of guess.Actually,the attitude of the bank was making us sick but then one does not have much choice whilst seeking a loan.Maybe you have -that is another bank can be approached but then you have to start all over again.Then, you have to pay the processing fees, which is based on the loan you have applied for & this fee is non-refundable.On second thoughts,one begins to wonder who is serving whom after paying the fees.
Finally, one day,the builder called up to say that the bank staff had told him that they would visit the site of the building which housed the flat.This was news to us.We waited for the bank to inform us about their site visit.We realised that our locus standi was in doubt now as the bank omitted to even mention about the site visit.We were happy, that this showed, that our application was still under consideration.The visit just kept getting postponed & eventually did take place.As the builder had informed us,we also made our presence felt at the stated time.The bankers told us that now the loan cheque was just a matter of days !
But of course,the builder got a customer who paid a token the next day & so the deal with us was off.Some of my friends opined that we lost a good deal because of the delay by the bank & also because we refused to pay a token to seal the deal.
We had such a bad experience years earlier that we were extra cautious this time around.In that deal,we paid a token amounting to a lakh of rupees ( that was more than 15 years ago) & then we came to know that the deal was financially unreasonable.We backed off & demanded our token back but the seller who was a middle class individual like us stated that he will pay us when he gets the amount back from the bank after the maturity period.He informed us that he had put the token in a fixed deposit.We were on tenterhooks till we got back our money.This experience is still so fresh in our memory that we were sure, that if we paid the token ,the builder may treat us in a manner that we will regret for a lifetime.
I am sure,we lost a deal-not a good deal, as I believe, that whenever,one deals with a builder,only the builder profits.We all have been paying premium sums for flats since years.Don't you agree ?
Showing posts with label redevloper. Show all posts
Showing posts with label redevloper. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
ICICI Bank :Red Alert !
Yesterday morning,I saw this huge advertisement by ICICI Bank clarifying its position visa vis the news paper report which had appeared in a financial daily on Sunday ( 13th September,2009).
We have been doing rounds of banks for getting a housing loan & to tell the truth,we are fed up of the clarifications ,the banks need from us for loan disbursement.Our credit rating has taken the banks 2-3 months to finalise & they are still on the job of evaluating the project,which we are interested in & this after more than 2 months of submitting the papers to them from the builder or rather the redeveloper.I am certain that the builder sorry, the redeveloper is no less a crook but, then, at least, an answer is yet to come from the bank.Our patience is being tested to the limit.
ICICI Bank like others had erred in disbursing loans right ,left & centre during the boom & so, are over cautious, like all banks in lending now, during recession.But does this help ? It is like ragging- the freshers are ragged because seniors were ragged by elder students earlier.It has no logic but the repercussions are there for all to see.So, in this case or rather such cases, wherein, banks are going overboard by not lending money for housing is just not helping in checking fraud.Maybe, it is just giving a complacent feeling to the banks that by refusing to give money,they are safe.It is like closing the stable door after the horses have bolted.Moreover ICICI saysbthat one crore is too minisicule an amount -this is so very true ! How we all have progressed ! Unless the crores are in three digits oops, sorry, four to five digits ,nobody is bothered & so why would ICICI bank, as it is said to be the largest bank in the private sector in our country.Moreover,if people have to remember any financial irregularity, which may turn out to be a scam,it had better be huge lest, people tend to overlook ? After all,public memory will continue to recall gigantic frauds & not dwarf ones !
But, if all the small scams are added up,the result will be a scam which will give all the huge scams a run for all the money involved.This is not to say that we only be bothered about the small frauds & leave the big ones -what I am trying to tell is that there has to evolve mechanisms & procedures which will nip such things in the bud.But nothing of this sort happens-we continue to witness one mess after another -we forget the earlier ones because, we already have a bigger one at the horizon, waiting ,before we can recover from the effects of the earlier one.
Moreover,huge scams make it so convenient for more & more people to share the loot & surely,the shares of the loot will be big too.Maybe, what has been reported is only the tip of the iceberg.Perhaps, more banks have been party to such acts.Let us only hope, that this is not true.
In this case,ICICI Bank seems to have omitted in its duty of verifying the credentials of the persons involved & hence, there is reason enough for suspicion that all is not well.Omission & commission are both equally culpable in law.
Today, the financial daily has issued a clarification about the news report it had published on 13th September,2009.But then, you have to read between the lines- the clarification report is just a quarter of the size of the published news report.Moreover,the news report was on the front page - it was almost as good as a headline.The daily's clarification is on the front page but down & on a side which a reader may easily skip.
We have been doing rounds of banks for getting a housing loan & to tell the truth,we are fed up of the clarifications ,the banks need from us for loan disbursement.Our credit rating has taken the banks 2-3 months to finalise & they are still on the job of evaluating the project,which we are interested in & this after more than 2 months of submitting the papers to them from the builder or rather the redeveloper.I am certain that the builder sorry, the redeveloper is no less a crook but, then, at least, an answer is yet to come from the bank.Our patience is being tested to the limit.
ICICI Bank like others had erred in disbursing loans right ,left & centre during the boom & so, are over cautious, like all banks in lending now, during recession.But does this help ? It is like ragging- the freshers are ragged because seniors were ragged by elder students earlier.It has no logic but the repercussions are there for all to see.So, in this case or rather such cases, wherein, banks are going overboard by not lending money for housing is just not helping in checking fraud.Maybe, it is just giving a complacent feeling to the banks that by refusing to give money,they are safe.It is like closing the stable door after the horses have bolted.Moreover ICICI saysbthat one crore is too minisicule an amount -this is so very true ! How we all have progressed ! Unless the crores are in three digits oops, sorry, four to five digits ,nobody is bothered & so why would ICICI bank, as it is said to be the largest bank in the private sector in our country.Moreover,if people have to remember any financial irregularity, which may turn out to be a scam,it had better be huge lest, people tend to overlook ? After all,public memory will continue to recall gigantic frauds & not dwarf ones !
But, if all the small scams are added up,the result will be a scam which will give all the huge scams a run for all the money involved.This is not to say that we only be bothered about the small frauds & leave the big ones -what I am trying to tell is that there has to evolve mechanisms & procedures which will nip such things in the bud.But nothing of this sort happens-we continue to witness one mess after another -we forget the earlier ones because, we already have a bigger one at the horizon, waiting ,before we can recover from the effects of the earlier one.
Moreover,huge scams make it so convenient for more & more people to share the loot & surely,the shares of the loot will be big too.Maybe, what has been reported is only the tip of the iceberg.Perhaps, more banks have been party to such acts.Let us only hope, that this is not true.
In this case,ICICI Bank seems to have omitted in its duty of verifying the credentials of the persons involved & hence, there is reason enough for suspicion that all is not well.Omission & commission are both equally culpable in law.
Today, the financial daily has issued a clarification about the news report it had published on 13th September,2009.But then, you have to read between the lines- the clarification report is just a quarter of the size of the published news report.Moreover,the news report was on the front page - it was almost as good as a headline.The daily's clarification is on the front page but down & on a side which a reader may easily skip.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
