My tenancy experiences!

Working for IT companies, I have lived the life of a nomad. I have moved city-to-city in India – New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad. In the last 3 years, Pune has been my ‘temporary’ home; till work takes me to my next place. Even in Pune, I have changed my rented apartment thrice for one reason or the other.

I thought of penning down my experiences with rental properties and owners in Pune hoping that others will benefit from these and not have to have heartburn or a headache when living in a rented property in Pune.

Rent:  The best part of Pune is that rentals are much lower than other Indian metros esp. Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad.   Rent is payable in advance at the beginning of the month and not at the end of the month. Most owners are okay with accepting rent via online (NEFT) transfers. You may occasionally come across the traditional or senior citizen owners, who ask for rent for the entire duration to be paid in advance by PDCs i.e. post dated cheques.

Who pays for utilities:  Tenants pay for all utilities – electricity, phone, gas, water etc. from date of move-in till date of move-out. Owner pays for property tax.

Society Maintenance charges: The usual trend is for owner to pay society maintenance charges.  Owners expect the tenant to pay for additional society charges such as non-occupancy charges, move-in and out charges. With increasing society maintenance charges, owners are asking tenants will also have to pay society maintenance charges as well.

Usage of common amenities such as club house swimming pool: This depends upon the society. Some societies allow tenants to use the facilities free of cost. Some societies charge tenants separately for using common amenities. These charges range from INR 500 to 1000 per month. It’s better to check with the society office before selecting the rented property. I have seen that many a times even owners and agents are not aware of usage rules for common amenities.

Security Deposit: I don’t understand why India does not come up with a law to regulate the amount of security deposit. Different cities have varying security deposits. Here’s

Bangalore: Security deposit = 10 month’s rent

Hyderabad: Security deposit = 2 month’s rent

Ludhiana: Security deposit = NIL / ZERO

Mumbai: Anywhere from 6 to 10 months rent

Pune:  Usually ranges from 3 month’s rent for unfurnished properties to 8 month’s rent for furnished properties

Usually owners ask for the entire security deposit to be paid in advance before move-in.  They do not accept the amount to be in instalments.

Brokers: Pune has a dearth of agents or brokers. Along with the several road-side agents who have their shops on every road, many security guards, drivers, society managers and even a few society chairman and secretaries act as Agents. My advice to you is to choose your agent carefully. Pick one who understands tenant’s needs and is professional.

Brokerage:  Brokerage for rentals ranges from 1 month’s rent in the suburbs such as Wakad, Hinjewadi and Wagholi to 2 months rent in the established areas of Prabhat Road, Koregaon Park, Aundh etc. Many agents offer to give discounts but do not tell you the discount percentage/amount upfront which leads to arguments later. It is best to get agency fees in writing before finalizing the deal. Based on experience of many of my friends, it is better to pay the brokerage immediately when you move in and to take a proper receipt for it. Also, it is recommended paying the brokerage via cheque to avoid arguments with unprofessional agents. Believe me – you want to avoid confrontations/ arguments later (some agents are politically connected).

Agreement formalities: Most societies nowadays do not allow tenants to shift into the flat without a valid agreement and police verification of tenants. Many of them started a NOC process last year – wherein a prior approval of society committee is needed without which tenants luggage/truck cannot move into the flat. I suggest having a proper agreement and police verification in place before renting the flat. I have burned my hands with some ‘template’ or stereo type rental agreements downloaded from the internet.  E.g. the last one I used off the internet said tenant will bear all legal charges; but the norm in Pune is for the owner to bear ½ of the cost of the formalities. If possible; hire a lawyer/ legal firm to do the work to save any penalties/ fines later.

Police Verification:  Most metros in India require information of the tenant to be submitted to police authorities. In Pune, due to increasing terrorist threats to IT companies and spade of bomb attacks in last couple of years, police are increasing checking compliances with police verification. If your friends are staying with you, their information is also submitted by the owner to the police.  I have heard from my friends working in Hinjewadi that the local police station requires information of all adults to be submitted to the police station by the owner before the tenant moves in. 

What’s up with Pune banning students and working bachelors? 

Over the last few months, I have been noticing an increasing trend that housing societies in Pune are banning bachelors and students as tenants. If there is a fundamental law/rule in India that a housing society in India cannot ban a particular community, religion, case, age etc. from owning or renting a place, then I am surprised how these societies are implementing such rules.  When I spoke to some of my seniors in my company who have been committee members, they says its due to bachelors not following rules and creating issues such as late night parties, nuisance to neighbours, not segregating wet and dry garbage, not completing police verification, keeping taps open leading to water wastage etc. 

While I understand that some bachelors may create these issues, I have three questions for them:

1. Does every bachelor create these issues?

2. Don’t families also create these issues- then why are they not banned?

3. Weren't all married people and committee members ‘students’ and ‘bachelors’ at some stage in their life?

I think these societies should consider imposing fines and penalties to anyone who does not follow society rules to deter such behaviour rather than imposing a blanket ban on bachelors and saying ‘it was decided in AGM”.