Realtors to face punishment for wrongdoings

Real Estate Development and Management Bill
Realtors to face punishment for wrongdoings
After over a year, a parliamentary body yesterday cleared the way for passage of the real estate development and management bill providing for punishment to developers for wrongdoings and protection of the interests of buyers and landowners.
On scrutinising the bill, the parliamentary standing committee on the housing and public works placed a report in the parliament suggesting its passage.
It, however, recommended that the House incorporate new provisions in the bill to punish landowners for violation of contracts with the developers.
The bill was placed in parliament on September 7 last year and sent to the parliamentary body for scrutiny. The committee was asked to submit its report to the House within three weeks.
But the committee, dominated by real estate developers-turned-lawmakers, held back passage of the proposed bill for the last one year taking extension of time on several occasions.
Finally, the parliamentary body brought some changes in the bill incorporating a provision of punishing landowners for their failure to handover land to the developers within the time stipulated in the agreement.
For the failure, a landowner may be punished for a term of maximum two years’ imprisonment or a fine of Tk 10 lakh.
A recommendation of the committee also said a landowner may face the same punishment if he cancels the agreement signed with a developer without serving a notice at least 30 days before the date of cancellation.
According to a provision of the original bill, an unregistered developer will be imprisoned for two years or fined Tk 10 lakh for advertising any property development project in the media.
The proposed law says all real estate developers have to be registered with the authorities concerned.
A developer will be awarded two years’ imprisonment or fined Tk 10 lakh for launching development works without permission of appropriate authorities.
If a developer fails to keep the promise of providing utility facilities to the developed plots in line with its prospectus, he or she will be fined Tk 5 lakh, or awarded one year’s imprisonment for failing to pay the fine.
Another provision of the bill says a developer will be imprisoned for three years or fined Tk 20 lakh or awarded both for constructing buildings in violation of the approved design.
If a developer doesn’t comply with the agreement with landowners or buyers or keeps the construction work unfinished and does not give compensation for this, it will be considered as cheating, says the law. The developer might be imprisoned for maximum two years or fined Tk 20 lakh or awarded both for cheating.
The parliamentary standing committee on environment and forest also placed its report on scrutiny of environment protection law amendment bill in parliament with recommendation for its passage.

Courtesy of The Daily Star