1. I have a HL of 21L taken in 2010 in Mumbai. We tried to buy the flat in which we were staying on rent. This flat is in a building whose construction is some 30 years old and more.

2. Also we are not the 1st buyers of this flat after our landlord. we were the 5th buyers. Hence no bank was interested in giving a HL for the same. Eventually after lots of hue and cry, Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd agreed us and we were given a loan of 21L. For that there were the below problems which were also faced
    i. As i said we were the 5th buyers. Earlier there used to be no paper work in 70ies or 80ies with Home Selling and Buying, i mean agreements and stuff. It was just the share certificate which was proof of who bought the flat and when
    ii. In our case, we were unable to produce 1 agreement, since it didn’t exist. For this KMBL asked mandatorily for 2 things mentioned below and how we solved that.
            a. Contacted a lawyer do assist in the missing agreement issue and pay him his said charges as well
            b. We had to float an advertisement in the newspaper asking if there are any callers for this flat

3. Eventually the loan was disbursed in some 15 days. However, the final disbursement from KMBL was never of Rs. 21L. They mandatorily kept some 50K with them saying it is part of some insurance etc etc. At that time we had no options but had to agree and took the HL.

4. Initially the ROI was very less and hence the EMI was well within our budget. But then the ROI kept on increasing for some time. However it stopped and since a few months it is set to 11.25%

5. Though initially KMBL was charging some interest on part payment, foreclosure etc. Of lately since RBI’s mention about not charging anything even KMBL has stopped doing that i think.

6. KMBL doesnt under any circumstances reduce the PRINCIPAL amount of the HL. I tried paying some 50k twice but they never agreed to let that affect the Annual amount of the loan but necessarily said that they would only reduce the tenure of the loan. Which acc to me isnt fair.

7. After being frustrated with KMBL, and getting to know about SBI HL from various sources i tried to visit SBI and asked them about the Take Over procedure.

8. After having a look at the Fees and Charges, i saw the following
    i. Processing Fees – Rs. 1000
    ii. Some Other Charges, which i was unable to understand summing up to Rs. 6000
    iii. Property Insurance/SBI Life-Home Loan Insurance – which eventually i am STRONGLY going to OPPOSE
    iv. Lawyer Charges – Due to the Miss in the agreements, respective Lawyer charges. I was told the charges could be about Rs. 5000

Though all this has been done already and thus helped me to gain a HL, i am unable to understand why should i pay the Lawyer charges again. Isn’t that a little WIERD to ask???