5 RERA red flags every Pune buyer should check before booking
MahaRERA publishes everything. Most buyers never look. Here are the 5 specific things to check on the RERA portal before you sign anything — including the one that catches 30% of bad projects.
Every project sold in Maharashtra must be on MahaRERA. The data is public. Most buyers never check it. Here's exactly what to look at — and what should make you walk away.
1. Registration validity
Search the project on maharera.maharashtra.gov.in. Confirm: - Registration is active (not expired or cancelled) - Project is in your specific locality (some builders register one project number for multiple sites — illegal)
If RERA is "not registered" but the builder says "applied" — walk away. By law, no marketing or booking can happen pre-registration.
2. Possession date — promised vs realistic
Compare the original promised possession date with the latest "extension" filed. If the project has filed 2+ extensions, expect at least 1 more. Plan accordingly.
A pattern: original 2023, extended to 2024, extended to 2025, current target 2026. That's the actual timeline — not the brochure.
3. Complaints filed
The portal shows every complaint filed against the project. Categories matter: - Possession delay: common, manageable - Refund requested: serious — buyers giving up - Construction quality: very serious - Misrepresentation: walk away
5+ active complaints on a single project = pattern, not anomaly.
4. Completion %
Cross-check the "construction status" with photos. Many builders report 70% complete when site shows 40%. If you're doing remote due diligence, ask for site photos with newspaper-of-the-day visible.
5. Land title — the one most buyers miss
Click "Other Documents." Look at the title certificate and 7/12 extracts. Check that: - Land owner = builder (or builder has registered development agreement) - No "litigation pending" notes - No agricultural-to-residential conversion still in progress
This is where 30% of bad projects fail. Builder has marketing, sales office, model flat — but the land paperwork is incomplete. You book, you wait 2 years, you find out.
How we help
We pre-vet every project on pune.homes against all 5 of these checks. The MahaRERA badge on every listing means it passes. Anything that fails, we don't list — even if the builder pays us.