The Tamil Nadu Apartment Ownership Act, 2022, Act No. 44 of 2022

What the law covers

The Tamil Nadu Apartment Ownership Act, 2022 applies throughout Tamil Nadu from the date or different area-specific dates notified by the State Government. It covers buildings containing four or more apartments used or intended for residential or commercial purposes.

For this law, an apartment owner includes a person who owns an apartment and a person holding an apartment on a lease of at least thirty years. A subsequent owner may acquire an apartment by purchase, inheritance or a lease of at least thirty years.

Ownership and transfer

The Tamil Nadu Apartment Ownership Act, 2022 gives each apartment owner exclusive ownership and possession of the apartment. The apartment and its undivided interest in common areas form heritable and transferable immovable property.

Key limits and rights include:

• An apartment or its undivided interest in common areas cannot be partitioned or subdivided.
• The owner’s share in common areas is proportionate to the apartment’s carpet area compared with the project’s total carpet area.
• The common-area share cannot be separated from the apartment and passes with any transfer or encumbrance.
• Owners must use common areas without obstructing or encroaching on other owners’ lawful rights.

Declaration and association

The promoter or majority of apartment owners must submit a prescribed declaration to the competent authority. For a newly completed building, submission is required within ninety days from the completion certificate. For a building already existing when the law commences, submission is required within one hundred and eighty days from commencement.

The competent authority may examine whether the property is covered and whether the declaration is in order. A defective declaration may be returned for correction and resubmission within thirty days.

After acceptance, the majority of owners must make bye-laws and submit them for registration. Once registered, apartment owners must form an association for the building. An existing building with a single association will have that association treated as its association under the law.

Management obligations

The registered bye-laws must address matters including:

• Election, powers and removal of the board of managers.
• Meetings, quorum and election of a president.
• Maintenance, repair and replacement of common areas and facilities.
• Collection of common expenses from owners.
• Formation of a federation where necessary.

Apartment owners must comply with the bye-laws. Failure may support proceedings to recover sums due, claim damages, seek an injunction, or seek both remedies.