Joint ownership is when two or more persons hold title to the same property. In case of coparcenary, the members have a common and an equal interest in the ancestral property. Any co-owner can transfer his share in the property to an outsider or another co-owner, and the transferee steps into the shoes of the co-owner. The transferee becomes the co-owner.

A co-owner is entitled to three essentials of ownership - right to possession, right to use and right to dispose off the property. Therefore, if a co-owner is deprived of his property, he has a right to be put back in possession. Such a co-owner will have an interest in every portion of the property and has a right irrespective of his quantity of share, to be in possession jointly with others. This is also called joint-ownership.

Co-ownership can be changed to sole ownership through partition. The term co-owner is wide enough to include all kinds of ownerships such as joint tenancy, tenancy in common, coparcenary, membership of Hindu Undivided Family etc. The very fact that the parties have certain shares in the property indicates that they are co-owners.

Here are some forms of co-ownership:

Joint tenancy

This entails the right of survivorship. Upon the death of one joint tenant, his interest immediately passes to the surviving joint tenants and not to the descendant's estate. Joint tenants hold a single unified interest in the entire property. Each joint tenant must have an equal share in the property. Each joint tenant may occupy the entire property subject only to the rights of the other joint tenants.

Joint tenancy has several requirements that must be met in order to be properly created. The conveyance must state specifically that the grantees are taking the property jointly.

There are four additional legal requirements necessary in order to create a joint tenancy.

• Unity of time: The interests of the joint tenants must vest at the same time.
• Unity of possession: The joint tenants must have undivided interests in the whole property and not divided interests in separate parts.
• Unity of title: The joint tenants must derive their interest by the same instrument.
• Unity of interest: Each joint tenant must have estates of the same type and same duration.

All these four unities must exist. If one unity is missing at any time during the joint tenancy, the type of co-ownership automatically changes to a tenancy in common. A joint tenancy may be created by a will or deed but can never be created by intestacy because there has to be an instrument expressing joint tenancy. A joint tenancy is freely transferable.

Tenancy by entirety

This type of co-ownership is exclusively for a husband and wife. Tenancy by entirety provides the right of survivorship. To exist, a tenancy by entirety requires that the four unities of a joint tenancy exist, plus a fifth unity of marriage should exist between the two co-owners. However, even if all five unities exist, the type of co-ownership may still be joint tenancy if the conveying instrument indicates as such.

Unlike joint tenancy, tenancy by entirety does not allow one spouse to convey his or her interest to a third party. However, one spouse may convey his or her interest to the other spouse.

A tenancy by entirety may be terminated only by divorce, death, or mutual agreement by both spouses. A terminated tenancy by entirety becomes a tenancy in common.

Section 44 of the Transfer of Property Act 1882 deals with transfer by a co-owner. It also deals with the rights of a transferee in this type of a transaction. Where a co-owner transfers his share of a property, the transferee acquires the transferor's right to joint possession, use, and to enforce a partition of the property. Where the transferee of a share of a house belonging to an undivided family is not a member of the family, he will not be entitled to joint possession or other uses.

A person who takes transfer from another, steps into the shoes of his transferor, gets all the rights, and becomes subject to all the liabilities of the transferor. He becomes as much a co-owner as the transferor was before the transfer. A coparcener of a Hindu Undivided Family can alienate his share in the property for a consideration.

Tenants in common

When the type of co-ownership is not specifically stated, by default a tenancy in common is likely to exist. Each tenant in common has a separate fractional interest in the entire property. Although each tenant in common has a separate interest in the property, each may possess and use the whole property.

Tenants in common may hold unequal interests in the property but the interest held by each tenant in common is a fractional interest in the entire property. Each tenant may freely transfer his interest in the property. Tenants in common do not have the right of survivorship. Therefore, upon the death of one tenant in common, his interest passes through a Will or through the laws of intestacy to another person, who will then become a tenant in common with the surviving co-owners.

This is banking with a difference. It’s informal and unregulated. Reeling under a severe cash crunch and drop in sales, big realty companies are now turning to the unorganised market for their cash needs.

Industry sources familiar with the development say all major realty companies around the country are collecting cash from private financiers and even individual lenders at a whopping interest rate of 36-48% per annum to save and complete their projects.

These sources further say that the developers are taking at least Rs 500 crore to Rs 1,500 crore from financiers and putting on block projects with these financiers in lieu of these loans. In fact, such is the situation, that the top five listed developers in the country have reportedly picked up Rs 4,000 cr to Rs 6,000 cr at interest rates of 40-48% from these financiers in the last four to six weeks. Many developers confirmed that they were picking up money from the market at such high rates to complete their projects. Liquidity concerns were squeezing the real estate sector, with developers taking loans between 24 to 36%.

Earnst & Young India: “Private equity deals have dried up and there are no financial sources to support smaller real estate developers. Banks have made it clear that they are looking at viable lending options and will consider providing support to only large real estate companies. It remains to be seen how these companies go about reassessing their consumption model to bring it in line with the current market expectations.” Stock prices of major realty players, including DLF, Unitech, Housing Development & Infrastructure (HDIL), Indiabulls Real Estate, Puravankara Projects, Parsvnath Developers, Sobha Developers, Omaxe, Mahindra Lifespace Developers and Ansal Properties & Infrastructure have all tumbled more than 60% in the last six months on Dalal Street.

Industry sources, in fact, say that across all metros and tier II cities such as Mohali, Kundli (Sonepat), Jaipur, Lucknow, Indore, Surat and Cochin, there has been a 70% to 80% drop in the number of deals. Arvind Mahajan, executive director of KPMG India, feels that the recent steps by government to boost real estate sector will take time to trickle down. With banks cautious towards lending to smaller developers, consolidation should take place soon. Wealth perception is a big issue in the market right now, especially in the backdrop of these companies’ valuation going down drastically on the stock market. There is demand up to a point. In misplaced euphoria, these realty players created more supply than demand in some places, which has backfired on them. The mix of housing holds the key. For developers, who have priced properties between Rs 25 lakh and Rs 1 crore, the going has been tough.

In fact, realising that the industry is facing a cash crunch, many developers are planning to do tie-ups at a project level, or even give huge discounts on commercial properties which then can sell as hot cakes. Many in the industry feel that a lot of projects already announced may not actually take off.

With significant pressure on realty companies, they are likely to go for restructuring and focus on selective projects in the short to medium term. There will be more tie-ups at the project level. For developers, these will be testing times that will check whether they are strong enough to weather the downturn.

The single-most expensive purchase that most people indulge in, usually once a lifetime, is buying a house. Homeowners invest their life's savings in their home. Ever wondered what happens if a huge fire destroyed your home or an earthquake ravaged it? It's hard to imagine your hard-earned money go up in smoke. Is there any way to ensure protection of your roof and its contents? Enter property insurance.

Property insurance provides protection against most risks to property from threats such as fire, burglary and earthquake. Open perils cover all the causes of loss not specifically excluded in the policy. In other words, it is insurance coverage for all risks other than those that the policy explicitly excludes.

Common exclusions on open peril policies include damage resulting from floods, nuclear incidents and war. Named perils require the actual cause of loss to be listed in the policy of insurance to be provided. In other words, it is insurance policy that covers only losses which result from causes specifically listed in the policy. It includes damage caused by fire, lightning, or theft.

When taking a home loan, some banks offer free property insurance. However, property insurance is not a prerequisite for applying for a home loan. Property insurance isn't merely about protecting your investment in your home. It also covers your valuable personal belongings, both inside and outside your home. Property insurance will reimburse you for losses if your home or personal belongings are damaged by fire, your belongings are stolen or some catastrophe strikes.

Read the fine prints in the policy. Do not compromise on crucial elements to save a few rupees and do not pay for covers you do not require.

The householder's insurance policy is designed to cover risks and contingencies faced by householders under a single package policy. It provides protection for property and interests, as well as legal liability of the insured and his family members who permanently reside with him. Instead of taking different policies you can opt for multiple sections or covers of your choice under one policy.

Home loan insurance plans provide cover to your home loan in the event of any unforeseen calamity happening in your life. If the breadwinner is unable to earn, what happens to his EMI repayments? With home loan insurance, your family will have the support of the insurance cover to pay for the outstanding home loan, without being burdened by the loan's EMIs.

Home loan insurance provides cover on housing loans. Let's assume the breadwinner dies during the term of the policy. The cover would provide a lump sum amount equal to the outstanding amount on the home loan. As the outstanding amount on the loan decreases over time, so does the cover under the policy.