Tenant Rights

Spread the love

In present times, flats are the biggest assets and common form of housing for all categories of people as the membership of the flat provides them with a feeling of security, comfort and satisfaction. Our day to day work-life keeps us tied up and as a result of time constraints we usually don’t get time to attend the housing society meetings, but there are several society bye-laws that we should be aware of to know which rules are applicable in our society as any major violation may lead to losing our property ownership. Though this seems pretty tough, this in return also helps us keep a check with the managing committee and its members while ensuring that there are common interests and the fundamental rights are duly taken care of by the society.

Though the general laws for all the members under their own state cooperative societies act are common, every society can have their own bye-laws that apply to all the members registered under that particular society. The common rights that we hold as members of the housing societies are;

  • Every member should be provided with a copy of bye-laws (with latest updates) of the society by the society.
  • Every member can nominate an associate member who holds the right, title and interest in the property individually or jointly with others, but whose name does not stand first in the share certificate.
  • Every member has the right to reside in their flat or with written consent authorize the associate member to reside in their flat.
  • Every owner or their authorized members have the right to cast vote in any society election.
  • Every member is entitled to attend the Annual General Meetings, the agenda for which includes the annual budget, financial statements, audit reports and other crucial developments related to the society.
  • Every member has the right to ask for a copy of the minutes in case they wish to know the whereabouts in any of the three meetings i.e Annual General Meeting, Special General Meeting & Managing Committee Meeting as all the discussions of meetings are recorded in the minutes’ book.
  • Every member is free to inspect the society accounts book during office hours and also demand a copy of the same and get verified by an external auditor in case there is any suspicion about the mismanagement of funds.
  • Every member can sell, lease or sublease their flat after informing the society and by submitting a copy of the agreement and police intimation report.
  • Every member has to provide a three months prior letter to the secretary in case they wish to resign from membership, whereas an associate member can resign anytime by issuing a letter to the secretary.
  • Every member has a right to RTI but any member causing damage to the structure of the building or weakening the building by any illegal means of repair or renovation can be expelled from the society and lose his membership as well.

On that account, a smoothly functioning cooperative housing society is the best for everyone but being aware of our rights as members of that society to report in case of any breach to the registrar against the society or its specific members for taking stringent actions is equally important.

-by Adv. Jagpreet Kaur Chandhok
reachpreethere@gmail.com

View More


Spread the love

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Back To Top
Translate »
Open chat