what should we do now ?

SJR shows its color again by postponding the meeting on 27th. So what should we do now ? Just to wait for their call ?

Is there any lawyer among us ? Or Does anybody knows a good law consultant ? SJR is very cunning ........just go through the following link, to know so many people are suffering like us due to SJR ....

http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/sjr-group-c29230.html
http://wikimapia.org/148989/
http://wikimapia.org/358750/

Shall we end up by just complaining and keep waiting ? Or shall we take some steps ? Pl. give your suggestions.

Thanks and regards,

Saradee

details of the site meeting with director on 17th october 2007

Thanks for this forum Martin.

I was present for the meeting and wewaere able to get the director to atleast accept for a meeting on the coming 27th at 11am (at SJR office).

The agenda would be:
1. To fix a penalty should the handover get delayed from the committed date
2. To be compensated for the delay caused.

We also asked them to keep the demand note on hold till we have a resolution on the above.

We should be receiving a confirmation mail on the meeting in a day or two

Meeting with SJR Director

We were there at the Site office yesterday and waited till 5pm for the Director to come and talk about the Penalty for the delay. I am not sure if he came after that. But a meeting shceduled for 3pm got postponed to 4pm and the key person doesnot turn-up till 5pm, doesnot give any confidence if the builder is serious about this project... does anybody has an update on whether meeting happened and if yes what was the outcome

Additional Expenses

I too live outside India and have recd the demand for Rs2,31,225 as payment towards additional expenses. On request the builder has provided the break up for the amt but it doesnot include registration and stamp duty.

SJR Brooklyn Yahoo Group

SJR Brooklyn Yahoo Group : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SJR_Brooklyn/

In existence from Feb 2005. Very active group. Hope members there and here discuss issues to attain a common voice.

service tax exemption for home buyers

SERVICE TAX RELIEF FOR HOME BUYERSThousands of property buyers who have paid service tax on the residential apartments/flats they have purchased now have something to cheer about. The Union finance ministry has issued the much-awaited clarification exempting builders/developers, undertaking residential constructions, from the service tax net. Two Pune-based builders’ organisations — the Promoters and Builders Association of Poona (PBAP) and the Marathi Bandhkam Vyavasayik Sanghatana (MBVS) — had made a representation to the ministry over the issue, besides filing a case in the Bombay high court. The organisations on Saturday received copies of the finance ministry circular, dated August 23, 2007. The construction industry was included in the service tax net in the Union Budget 2005-06, but builders and central excise officials had been debating whether service tax can be imposed on residential properties with more than 12 tenements. The finance ministry’s latest circular categorically exempts developers/builders from collecting service tax from property buyers, provided they had constructed the residential complex by employing direct labour. Also, in all such cases where the developers had employed the services of a contractor, it is the contractor who will have to pay service tax and not the builder. The finance ministry has also pointed out that the circular is based on the "comprehensive review" of all technical issues pertaining to service tax by a special committee headed by T.R. Rustagi, former chief commissioner of customs and central excise, and also the director general of inspection. – www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

delay charge

The delay charge must be paid by the builders. Considering the monetory loss we are suffering for the period of delay( Since May '07 to Fe'08 ( the tantative day of possession as declared by the builder) ), it should be actually much more than what the agreement says (Rs.3 per sqft per month).
Here is a rough estimation of the loss
For 9 months:rent paid: 9x10000=Rs. 90,000/
home loan interest paid=Rs.2,20,000/
For a 3bhk (of are 1499), we will get 3 x 1499 x 9=Rs.40,473, which is too less as a compensation.
Considering the north ward movement of the home loan interest rate and the rent rise at least we should get an equal amount of compensation.Here I am not counting the mental agony we are suffering.What do you say ?
But I am sure, the builder will try to give lots of un truth reasoning like scarcity of material, labours etc for which we do not have relevent data.

18% p.a. PENALTY

The construction agreement includes an 18% penalty clause on delay of payment on customer side. Some of you might have seen it in the recent demand note for additional expenses. Should we not push for something similar for delay on their part in handing over the apartments?

Demand Note for Additional Expenses

Hi all,

I have received a Demand Note for Additional Expenses from SJR for about 2.3 Lakhs. Not sure if any of you have received the same.
Since I am away from India, it would be helpful to know if any of you are able to gather more information about this.

Thanks

service tax

Thanks to Martin for this much needed plateform for we all and welcome you all in this blog site. Pl. keep this active and fruitful which actually will help us all.

Recently the finance ministry has announced that the builder is exempted from paying service tax and hence the buyers are not liable to pay service tax. Also Supreme Court says the same line in the Raheja builders case. Transfer of an asset is not a service, that's what SC has said. For details on this issue one can refer to property suppliment of TOI in last month(sept'07). The TOI issue detail I can provide later. In the meeting on 17th can this matter also be discussed ? We are paying 12.5 % as service tax which is actually a huge amount.Thanks.friend

Any volunteers attending the meeting?

Any folks who attend these meetings regularly?

Can someone volunteer to be our representative in these meetings?

I guess a team of 5-7 people to take the lead ...So even if someone miss the dates we will always have a constant representation in these upcomming meetings and we dont swerve from our agenda


next meeting is planned for Oct 17 or so I presume.

Hi Martin, thanks for initiating this effort. I recently got into the Brooklyn project and one of the motivating factor was that the project was scheduled to be ready in November, as told by the salespeople. So the delay mentioned in the handover of the apartment would add to additional rental expense- a big drain on every one's pocket. Hence it is only fair that the builder provides adequate compensation for the delay. I am looking forward to their pending response on this issue. Thanks once again.

MOM by email

It is great that a blog is set up. it can be really useful to ensure that they dont take us for a ride !

we had asked for the minutes of the meeting (Including points discussed and conclusions) to be sent to assist those that are unable to attend. Havent heard anything back yet.

Regards,
Block C Customer

What points were exactly discussed in the meeting?

Hi All,

Thanks Martin for creating this blog and inviting us.

I am currently out of Bangalore and couldn't attend the meeting with SJR Builders.

Shouldn't SJR compensate in some way for the delay in handing over? Was this not discussed in the meeting?

Thanks,
A-604, Vaseem Aziz

flat maintenance fee- misleading and confused

D block-2 Bedroom apartment:( not sure how much other blocks are charged)

As far as the agreement goes the maintenance fee was supposed to be paid only for 1 year amounting to approx 1.25/sq ft totals to 19275/- for an year

But when I requested Manjula what are the payments I need to make before handing over and at the time of registration she pointed out that I need to make 2 yr maintenance fee amounting to 34000

I havent had a chance yet to discuss this with her yet.

Did any of you guys run into similar situations?

Or is it just me..
Dont you think 34000 /- for two years is way too high in this category

Moderator Post

Welcome to SJR Brooklyn blog to discuss concerns/issues /plan of actions

This is a customer area and builder representatives are not welcome !!

To introduce myself-I am the blog moderator
This idea of setting up an internet blog crossed my mind one day and it took few days from conception to realization.

This is my debut attempt in setting up or posting on a blog and I consider lucky to post and set up my first one here :)

BTW ,myself a brooklyn customer who booked an apartment in D block.Now awaiting their target date of completion and eagerly watching their not so appreciable progress .

I cant say their customer service is too bad.They have been very prompt whenever a payment is due but very sluggish when it comes to have your concern or questions attended.


This is just my personal opinion.

I am starting to get the feeling that there is some room of misleading information in their payment schedules .Specifically when it comes to the "Additional expenses" category.

More about this later ...

Before I end this short note ,welcome everyone !!

Lets use this forum and power of internet to discuss the concerns about SJR Brooklyn between us customers .I certainly believe that the power of collective bargaining can work wonders ..

Please dont use this blog for non SJR Brooklyn discussions.It takes only few minutes to set up one for yourself :)

Lets keep this blog clutter free so that its easy viewable .
Not to mention suggestions are always welcome.


Thanks and good luck

Looking forward to meet my neighbours at SJR Brooklyn right here , long before we actually come to become real neighbours

Welcome to SJR Blog Neighbourhood !!




Thanks
Moderator