How credible are Online Reviews of Property Developers?

Even since the dawn of the Internet, many people have found a way to voice their opinion be it on a social issue or a customer review, the internet has been a medium to communicate and raise awareness for most people today, but how do you know if the review is credible or not? Slandering in social media is very common nowadays, it is unethical and illegal but sadly there seems to be no stop to it, as it hard to control the vast and ever growing World Wide Web. 

The internet has made customers do their necessary homework before making an informed decision. With many consumer complaint domains coming to their rescue. Consumer complaint domains like mouthshut.com, consumercompaints.in are few of the domains where they provide the consumer with not just informative information about the company’s product or service but also how the company operates and is it worth to purchase their services or products. But the million dollar questions are, most or even all the reviews credible?

The real-estate market in Bangalore and the rest of India has made potential buyers conservative and nervous to make a deal with these real-estate agents, because most property developers end up scamming the hard working individuals who have saved up their hard earned income to purchase a house of their dreams only to see it burn in flames with the property developer failing to attain any legal sanctions for that particular development or any government approvals. So customers and prospective buyers turn to the internet and these consumer review domains to do their necessary homework about the builder and the project they are interested in and based on that they decide if it is worth it. 

You cannot please everyone in this world that is a fact so there are naturally a few negative reviews which is good because it shows that the company has a few flaws but at the same time it has plenty of credible good reviews to put the potential buyers at ease. 

Many real estate agents nowadays force the buyer to give a 5 star review which is unethical, a buyer should rate the service of the real-estate agent without the pressure and influence from the agent. There are also instances where companies pay people to write good reviews about their company which is totally illegal and it can be the other way also where rival companies pay people to slander their competitors by writing negative reviews to hamper their competitors business and image. In the previous post we have discussed about TGS Constructions properties reviews and tried to get some attention to know how your competitor can hamper a business.

It is may seems pretty hard to have a system in place to check the legitimacy of online reviews but with these tips to detect fake online reviews you can have a good idea to figure out its legitimacy. And it also casts a doubt in the customers mind to question if the testimony or review is accurate. And it is also a downer for hard working real-estate agents and builders who provide exceptional customer service but are still victim to fake negative reviews in the online world.

Beware builders now customers can launch an FIR against you

Tough times ahead for property developers as customers now have the right to lodge an FIR against property developers who fail to adhere to certain legal norms.

Special inspector general police of the state has issued notices to the respective commissioners of every zone to book complaints against delinquent property developers and builders and launch punitive action against them. A circular which was issued by one Mr Prabhat Kumar explains about the stipulations of section three and four under the Maharashtra Ownership Flat act of 1936. This act states that a builder or property developer is held accountable if he does not adhere to certain clauses.

We all know prevention is better than cure so it better to check details of builder and constructions companies before you opt for any project. To put in a simple manner a buyer has the authority to take legal action if there property builder or developer is not adhering to certain stipulations. Here are a few cases where buyers can take legal action.

• If the property developer or builder fails to deliver the flat on a prescribed date to the buyer.

• Fail to issue Certificate of Occupancy by the property developer before handing over the apartment to customers

• If the property builder fails to create a society in four months

• If the property developer fools the buyer by giving them a space which is unauthorised and also if the property developer undertakes any illegitimate activities during construction. So it is better to know the property is in A or B Khata.

• Failure to register the agreement by property developers after pocketing 20% of the flat amount from sale to buyers. In the previous article we have learnt according to the new policy builders can’t retain registration charges of customer go through it if you have missed it.

• Transfer of land not finished in four months in good will of society.

• Failure to deposit amounts in certain accounts which have been approved by flat buyers.

• No approval for construction as mentioned in rule number seven

• Failure to present audited statement of accounts by the property developers and builders.

This major move has not gone down well with the property developers and builders community as they feel they can be mistreated and blackmailed from the buyers. The developers claim it is not only them who are at fault.

The State Societies Welfare Association has been helping buyers who succumb to these kinds of issues. They plan to seek justice against those delinquent builders who have made these buyers life a misery by making them run to various corners to file complaints against them. The DG of police has been very clear in his instructions. Police have to register a FIR in the nearest police station located in that vicinity, and all police stations have been briefed to undertake necessary action against delinquent property developers and builders.