The RERA Checklist Every Buyer Must Use

RERA is your single most powerful protection as a homebuyer. Use this checklist before you sign any token amount. Skipping even one of these verifications has, in our experience, been the difference between a clean handover and a year-long legal headache.

First, validate the project on the Delhi RERA portal. The number on the brochure must match the registration record exactly — including spelling and the developer's legal entity name. If it's a builder-floor sale by an individual seller, the floor itself does not require RERA registration, but you should still confirm the underlying plot has a clean conversion deed and freehold status.

Second, verify the title chain for at least 30 years. Ask for the original conveyance deed, every subsequent sale deed, the latest mutation in MCD records, and the property tax receipts for the last three years. A break in the chain — even a missing gift deed between siblings — will haunt you at resale.

Third, confirm the building is sanctioned. The plot's site plan must be approved by the relevant municipal authority and the building must conform to the sanctioned plan. Unauthorised construction is one of the most common defects we see in South Delhi builder floors, and remediation can cost 10–15% of the property value.

Fourth, check encumbrance. A non-encumbrance certificate from the sub-registrar's office covering the last 30 years protects you from undisclosed mortgages and litigation. Run it yourself — do not rely on the seller's copy.

Finally, before you transfer the final tranche, insist on physical inspection of the original parent documents and a no-objection from any housing society or RWA. These two steps alone resolve the bulk of post-handover disputes we are called in to mediate.