News: Kochi Flat Buyer Asked to Pay Seller’s Rs 80,000 Dues-20-07-2026

A homebuyer in Kochi who bought an apartment in 2022 with a bank loan says the apartment association is again pressing him to pay Rs 80,000 in maintenance charges left unpaid by the previous owner. He described the dispute in a Reddit post and asked whether the association can legally force him to pay after all these years.

According to the post, a broker handled most of the deal and the buyer met the owner only near the end. He had seen on the apartment notice board that the owner owed about Rs 80,000, and the owner assured him it would be settled. Trusting this, he completed the purchase and registration and moved in.

Within four to five days, association members told him the dues had never been paid and questioned how the flat was sold without a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the association. They wanted the new owner to pay. He refused, saying the liability was the seller’s, and offered to settle the matter if an NOC was needed when he sold the flat in future. The association did not agree, but the issue went quiet.

A new managing committee was later elected and never raised the matter, while the buyer kept paying all charges that fell due after he took ownership. Recently, members of the earlier committee returned with the same demand.

The buyer says the seller told him in 2022 that the claim was baseless and that he should not pay. The seller then reportedly became unreachable, changing his phone number within weeks of the sale. Residents later told the buyer that the former owner had a history of financial disputes and alleged fraudulent conduct.

Who is liable

The answer turns on the association’s registered bye-laws, the sale agreement, state apartment ownership laws and whether the rules create a charge on the property or only a personal liability on the member who ran up the dues.

Venkat Rao, founder and managing partner, Intygrat Law Offices LLP, told Hindustan Times Real Estate that a housing society can recover such dues from the new owner if the transfer is completed without clearing them. Society by-laws and transfer procedures generally require the seller to obtain a No Dues Certificate (NDC) or NOC before transfer, he said. Where a flat changes hands despite arrears, the liability often attaches to the flat rather than the individual, and the society need not pursue the previous owner first. The buyer may be able to recover the amount from the seller, depending on the sale agreement, but that is a separate dispute.

Rao said the governing principle is "buyer beware" (caveat emptor). A buyer cannot later plead ignorance of the dues, and a failure of due diligence does not remove liability towards the society.

Buyers should therefore obtain a written maintenance dues certificate or NOC from the association, confirm utility charges are cleared, check the society’s records and include indemnity clauses in the sale agreement.

This report is based on user-generated social media content that HT.com has not independently verified.