17 October,2026 07:48 AM IST | Mumbai | Vinod Kumar Menon
Pic/iStock
Hundreds of homebuyers across Maharashtra remain caught in stalled housing projects, paying home loan EMIs for homes they cannot occupy while also shouldering monthly rent. Even those who have secured refund orders from the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) say recovering their money remains a struggle.
For many, winning a refund order has only opened another battle, navigating sluggish recovery proceedings, repeated administrative changes and insolvency cases involving developers. The result is prolonged financial distress, with buyers waiting years to recover their savings.
Project delays have left buyers juggling loan repayments and rent, draining household savings and adding to emotional distress.
Double burden: Buyers continue paying EMIs for unfinished homes while renting accommodation elsewhere.
Savings depleted: Years of waiting and legal expenses have eaten into the savings of middle-income families and senior citizens.
Emotional toll: Some buyers say the prolonged uncertainty has affected their mental well-being and led them to seek counselling.
A MahaRERA official said homebuyers can file a non-compliance plea if a developer fails to honour a refund order. After hearing all parties, an adjudicating officer can issue a recovery warrant and forward it to the concerned collector's office.
Even after obtaining favourable orders with interest, buyers say the actual recovery process can be painfully slow. Once MahaRERA issues recovery warrants, execution depends on district collectorates and tehsildars. Buyers cite frequent transfers of officials and inadequate follow-up as reasons for delays. Property auctions intended to recover dues from defaulting developers have also failed to translate into actual payments. Buyers say absence of clear timelines and follow-up mechanism leaves them uncertain about when, or whether, they will receive their money.
Buyers say recovery becomes even more difficult when developers enter insolvency proceedings before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). Such proceedings can trigger a moratorium that restricts individual recovery action, depending on the applicable insolvency process.
For affected homebuyers, this can leave existing MahaRERA orders difficult to enforce and push repayment further out of reach.
John Dantis, senior citizen
Dantis invested R6 lakh from his savings in 2016 to buy a 225-sq-ft flat in a township at Vangani in Badlapur, booked in his daughter's name. Possession was promised within three years.
He has since obtained a favourable MahaRERA refund order but says he has received neither the money nor the flat. With no personal income, he depends on his daughters and pays Rs 35,000 a month in rent in Andheri. He says legal expenses and the developer's move to the NCLT have added to his distress, and he is undergoing counselling.
Vishal Raut, homebuyer
Raut booked a bungalow plot in Shahapur in 2012 for Rs 4.75 lakh. After the developer stalled the demarcation and cancelled the project in 2016, he sought a full refund with interest.
He secured a MahaRERA order in October 2022. However, despite three changes of tehsildar and an auction scheduled for August 9, 2024, he says no money has been recovered. He said his case, registered with the Thane Collector under number 260286, has made no concrete progress.
Bhushan Mule, 50, BEST employee
Mule booked a 1-RK flat in the Vangani project in February 2017 for R7.31 lakh, paying R3 lakh upfront.
Although the structure has been built, he says essential facilities, including electricity, water pipelines and sanitary fittings, remain incomplete.
He pays an EMI of Rs 6000 a month on a 25-year loan, alongside R17,000 in monthly rent in the MIDC area. Supporting a child in Std X on his monthly salary of R40,000, Mule says the burden continues despite a welfare association being formed and a group order obtained from MahaRERA in January 2026. More than 750 buyers in the project remain without relief, he said.
âActual recovery could be far lower'
Abhay Upadhyay, president of the Forum for People's Collective Effort and a member of the Central Advisory Council for RERA under the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, called for greater transparency in MahaRERA's recovery figures.
"RERA was enacted with transparency as a primary objective. MahaRERA should disclose the exact number and total value of refund and compensation orders passed since inception before claiming a 45 per cent recovery rate," he said.
