Kiraye ke Ghar The Badalte Rahe – Part 2

Musaafir ke raste badalte rahe,
muqaddar mein chalna thaa chalte rahe
Mohabbat adaavat vafaa berukhi,
kiraaye ke ghar the badalate rahe - Bashir Badr


Scientists, Economists and Mathematicians often use the phrase “ one in a billion” or “one in a million” in order to emphasize on the probability of something happening being really low. But what they really do not tell you is that someone somewhere will be that millionth or billionth person to whom it will happen.

And I am just finding that out, having moved into a rented accommodation only three months back and not bothering to check the credentials of the landlord, with the members of the housing society. I had felt a little suspicious when I was not called for a society meeting to give me the clearance to live in the building, which is usually the case. But then I had not bothered too much about it. That was now proving to be a costly mistake.

One fine morning, the broker who had got me that house had called, wanting to meet me urgently. And we had met. I was told, I would have to vacate the flat as soon as possible. This was a shock out of the blue. “ Wasn’t the housing lease for a period of 11 months?”, I wondered.

And then the entire detail had come in. The landlord apparently had not been paying the maintenance charge to the society for nearly a decade now and the amount he owed them had now crossed a lakh. The society had filed a case against the landlord and others who had not been paying. It had won the case and then the cops had come calling. Given this, the landlord could rent out the house only if he paid up the dues. And he did not have enough money to pay the dues. If I had insisted on staying on, the broker had told him that there were chances that I could be victimized.

So I had to vacate the flat and shifted to a friend’s place for sometime. It had taken me three months to make a home of a flat and as the packers had come packed, within thirty minutes it was all gone.

But what me the most was the fact that the broker hadn’t told me about all this. This made him wonder, whose side was the broker really on?. Definitely not on my side. This is typically because of the way the economic incentive for the broker is structured. Any broker, typically, will charge both the person wanting a house on rent and the flat owner, a brokerage. But the owners are long-term customers, and keep coming back to the same broker every year. So keeping their interest in mind is of paramount importance. Hence, everything that the broker says should not be taken on face value.

I still haven’t moved into a new flat. The whole thing has left me confused and made him paranoid. All the flats I have seen give me a feeling of indifference. “What happens if I have to move out of this flat as well in three months? Wouldn’t it be better to buy a flat? But was it right time? Or is there ever a right time for anything?” I wonder, or “Should I just do it?”.