Can housing societies refuse tenants?

By: Karshni on 01:55

Sumanta Layak, 25, is used to rejection. Whenever he has to look for a house on lease in the National Capital Region, he goes through a harrowing time. Layak is well-qualified and has no criminal history, yet, he is refused rental accommodation by most owners of housing societies. The reason? He is single. "Being single is the biggest disadvantage if you are looking to rent a house in the metros. This is because mosthousing societies disallow their members from leasing their properties to bachelors. So, even if the owner wants to give it on rent to a group of singles, the housing society won't give him a no-objection certificate (NOC)," he explains.

According to real estate experts, being single is not the only reason that people find it difficult to rent a house in the top cities, though it is the most common one. "The society feels that a group of singles is likely to rough up the place and create nuisance for other society members. Besides, bachelors typically don't stick to a place for long and this doesn't provide stability in rental income compared with that from families," says Ramesh Prabhu, chairman of Maharashtra Societies Welfare Association.

The other reasons for refusal (see box) include keeping pets, such as dogs and cats, for fear that they will dirty the society or harm the children. "Besides, people with certain meal preferences are known to have been denied tenancy. There were some media reports as well about people belonging to a certain religion being denied permission by the housing society," says Prabhu.

Can housing societies frame their own laws? 

If legal experts are to be believed, the housing societies can indeed frame their own laws. According to Ravi Goenka, advocate, GoenkaBSE 6.12 % Law Associates, there are broad guidelines, or bye-laws, that every housing society adopts when it is registered. These rules and regulations govern the day-to-day functioning of the housing society and are crucial to its smooth running.

"These guidelines are typically framed under the Co-operative Societies Act, which is a Central Act. This provides specific guidelines for a society to be registered with the municipal corporations, its governance structures, common area maintenance rights, dos & don'ts, accounting practices and various other covenants related to leasing/ purchasing a house within the society," he explains.

The Act also offers a degree of flexibility to societies to add regulations of their own, he adds. "For instance, if the housing society has made a rule for tenants, according to which they cannot park their vehicles in the parking slots allotted to members, then they have every right to enforce it," he explains.

Can the housing society overrule a flat owner? 

Om Ahuja, CEO, residential services, Jones Lang LaSalle India, explains that though it is the legal right of the owner to lease his property, the housing society in which the flat is situated, too, has a say in it. "Individual societies are legally empowered to deny tenancy based on their bye-laws. In many cases, such bye-laws are interpreted in a certain manner in order to achieve this. However, they have no constitutional right to do so," says Ahuja.

Besides, the housing societies that impose additional maintenance charges on the flat owners who have leased their property are legally allowed to do so under The Societies Act.

According to Goenka, bye-law 43(2) of the Co-operative Housing Societies Act mentions a proper format as per which a member of the housing society can sublet his house to tenants.

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