10 red flags to spot before you sign a property agreement in India

Most property fraud in India isn't dramatic. It's boring. It's a mismatched name on the RERA record, a completion date that quietly slipped by six months, a builder who registered Phase 1 with UP-RERA but is quietly selling Phase 2 flats without paperwork. Small stuff — until you've signed and paid, and it becomes the reason you're in a consumer court five years later.

We built AI verification partly to catch this class of problem in about a minute. But every buyer should also know the checklist by heart, because AI catches most of what's wrong — and you catch the rest at the site visit.

Here are the ten red flags we see most often, ranked by how much money they typically cost buyers.

1. The RERA number doesn't exist, or points to a different project

The single most common problem. A builder shows you a shiny brochure with UPRERAPRJ12345 printed on it. You look up 12345 on up-rera.in and find… a completely different project. Or nothing.

Every legitimate UP project over 500 sqm has a RERA number that resolves on the official portal. If it doesn't, walk away. There is no legitimate reason for a RERA number to be missing from the RERA registry — the registry is the source of truth.

2. Suspended or lapsed RERA status

A RERA number can exist but be "lapsed" or "suspended." This means UP-RERA has revoked the builder's right to sell units in the project. It usually happens after repeated buyer complaints or non-compliance with promised timelines.

Builders sometimes keep selling anyway, hoping buyers won't check. They will say the suspension is being resolved. It might be. It also might drag on for two years. Meanwhile your booking amount sits inside a suspended project.

3. The completion date on RERA has passed — with no revision filed

RERA registrations carry a promised completion date. Builders can file for a legitimate extension (called a "revision") if they need more time, and the portal shows all revisions publicly. What isn't legitimate: a completion date that has quietly expired without any revision on file. That's a builder pretending the promise is still active while the paperwork says otherwise.

Look at the "Timeline / Revisions" tab on the UP-RERA project page. If the last revision is older than the current date and no new one is filed, treat it as a delivery risk.

4. Promoter has other suspended projects

RERA lets you search by promoter (the legal entity behind the project), not just by project. Do it. If the promoter has one live project and three suspended ones, you're looking at a track record, not a coincidence.

Legitimate developers occasionally have a suspended project — a lawsuit, a land-title dispute. Serial-suspended promoters are a different animal.

5. Sales pressure to pay before you see the sale agreement

The classic scam pattern: "Sir, we have only two flats left at this price. Booking amount today, agreement paperwork next week." No.

Under RERA rules, no builder can collect more than 10% of the flat's cost before signing a written sale agreement. If someone is asking you to wire more than a token amount before you've read the agreement, the pressure itself is the red flag — regardless of what they say.

6. Fake or blue-tick-less social presence

A real developer building projects worth ₹100 crore has actual social presence: a verified Instagram with a real follower count, a Facebook page with photos from site visits, employees mentioning the builder on LinkedIn.

A "developer" with a two-week-old Instagram, 47 followers, and no LinkedIn presence for anyone claiming to work there is often a shell operation. This is one of the specific checks our AI verification runs — comparing the exact IG/FB handles you provide against the verified-account signal.

7. Price significantly below market for the locality

If a 3BHK in a locality is quoting ₹85 lakh when the ceiling in that neighbourhood is ₹1.4 crore for the same specification, someone is subsidising something — and it isn't the builder's kindness. Usually one of:

• The project doesn't have final approvals (you're paying a discount for taking on that risk)
• The unit has a title issue (encumbrance, litigation)
• The pricing is a bait — final pricing after "hidden charges" ends up at market
• The project is genuinely distressed and desperate

Our AI valuation benchmarks the asking price against comparable listings in the same locality so this signal doesn't get lost in negotiation excitement.

8. "Ready to move" that isn't

"Occupancy Certificate" (OC) is the legal document that says a project is legally habitable. Municipal authorities issue it after the project meets all building-code, fire-safety, and infrastructure requirements. A flat without an OC is not legally habitable, even if the walls are up and the paint is dry.

Ask for the OC. Ask for the number. Cross-check on the municipal corporation's website (Lucknow Nagar Nigam, Kanpur Nagar Nigam, etc.). "OC is coming" is not an OC.

9. Title chain missing a link

The title chain is the paper trail of who owned the land at every stage — from the original allottee through every sale, gift, inheritance, and transfer down to the current builder. A missing or gap-y link means the current owner may not have clear title to sell.

For plotted developments and stand-alone bungalows, this is the single highest-value check. A licensed property advocate is the right person to inspect this — and it's the primary reason our Expert Review offering exists. AI can flag the surface signal (e.g., "builder acquired land in 2019 via power-of-attorney, not registered sale"), but a human advocate should read the actual deeds.

10. Amenities and specs not written into the agreement

The brochure promises a clubhouse, a swimming pool, a jogging track, 3-tier security, imported fittings. What's in the sale agreement? Often, none of it. The agreement lists a bare-shell flat and a lot of "as per builder discretion" language. Every promise not written in is a promise not enforceable.

Read the agreement clause by clause. Every amenity you were sold on must appear as a definite commitment — including materials (Kajaria vs generic tiles), timelines for common areas (clubhouse opens with possession vs "eventually"), and penalty clauses for delayed handover.

What to do if you find a red flag

Depends on which one:

| Red flag | What to do | |---|---| | RERA missing / mismatched | Stop transaction. Don't pay a booking amount. | | Suspended RERA | Wait for resolution. Don't pay. | | Completion overdue with no revision | Negotiate a delayed-possession penalty clause into the agreement. Or walk. | | Serial-suspended promoter | Walk. | | Low price / no explanation | Ask, in writing. If the answer is vague, walk. | | No OC on a "ready-to-move" flat | Refuse possession. Payments should be gated on OC. | | Title chain issue | Get an advocate. Do not skip this. | | Amenities not in agreement | Rewrite the agreement. If they refuse, that IS the answer. |

The bottom line

You will never eliminate all risk in Indian property. What you can do is check the ten things that catch 80% of problems, and use a legal advocate for the 20% that require reading the actual deeds.

That's the entire premise of PropVerify AI — AI runs the wide-net check in a minute, and when the stakes justify it, a Bar Council-registered advocate reads the paperwork and signs off with a court-defensible PDF. Free AI verification while we grow; expert review is a one-time fee when you actually need it.

Ready? Run a free verification now — the next 60 seconds is worth the next ten years of not being in a consumer court.