The email arrived with a cheerful subject line. The promoter was "pleased to announce a strategic partnership": a larger developer would be taking over the completion of the project, and buyers were asked to sign an attached consent form "at the earliest to avoid delays". Most buyers sign letters like this within the week. It is worth slowing down, because this is the one point in a project's life where the law gives every buyer a vote, and the form in your inbox is the ballot.
Key takeaways
- Section 15 of the RERA Act forbids a promoter to transfer its majority rights and liabilities in a project without the prior written consent of two-thirds of the allottees and the prior written approval of the Authority.
- Your agreement survives the transfer: the new promoter must meet every pending obligation of the old one, under the Act and under each agreement for sale.
- A transfer does not extend the completion date. The new promoter is liable for breach or delay measured against the original promises.
- Internal shareholding changes that leave the promoter's obligations untouched generally need no consent; a voluntary merger of the promoter company generally does, with narrow exceptions.
- MahaRERA disposed of 6,945 complaints in 2025, more than it received that year, so a buyer whose project was transferred without the consent the law requires has a forum that is clearing its docket.
Rohit's consent form
Rohit (illustrative, as our stories always are), buying from overseas, had followed his Pune project through two slow years of quarterly filings. The consent request came with a two-paragraph letter, a one-page form, and no information about the incoming developer beyond its name and a line calling it "reputed". He could not attend the buyers' meeting. What he could do was read. Names and numbers in this story are illustrative.
What the law actually says
Section 15(1) of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 says a promoter shall not transfer or assign its majority rights and liabilities in a real estate project to a third party without obtaining the prior written consent of two-thirds of the allottees, excluding the promoter, and without the prior written approval of the Authority. Its proviso adds that such a transfer shall not affect the allotment or sale of the apartments already made by the earlier promoter.
Section 15(2) makes the incoming promoter independently responsible for all the pending obligations of the outgoing one, both under the Act, rules and regulations and under the agreements for sale already signed. It also closes the most tempting loophole: a transfer does not give the incoming promoter any extension of time to complete the project, and it is liable for the consequences of any breach or delay.
In Maharashtra, MahaRERA first set out the procedure in a 2017 circular and revised it in 2019 and again in 2021. The promoter applies to MahaRERA with the consent of two-thirds of the allottees as on the date of application, and MahaRERA scrutinises the application before approving or refusing it. The same directions draw the line between a transfer and a reorganisation:
- Needs two-thirds consent: a transfer of the project to a third party, and a voluntary merger or amalgamation of a promoter company that holds registered projects, subject to narrow exceptions in the directions.
- Generally does not: a change in the promoter's internal shareholding or constituents that does not affect its obligations to buyers, conversion of a partnership into an LLP or a company, conversion of a company into an LLP, and a proprietorship passing to legal heirs.
A two-thirds threshold appears elsewhere in the Act too, for a different decision: under section 14(2), altering the plans or specifications of the buildings or common areas needs the written consent of at least two-thirds of the allottees. A transfer consent does not authorise a change to the plans, and a plan change does not authorise a transfer. Watch for a single form that tries to collect both.
Section 15 governs a transfer by the promoter. Where a housing society terminates its redevelopment developer and appoints another, the old developer's buyers are in a different position, which turns on the termination and the new agreements, so take legal advice before relying on Section 15 there.
An analogy: your home loan being sold to another bank
Banks sell loans to each other routinely. When yours is sold, the interest rate, the tenure and every term you signed travel with it; the new lender cannot rewrite them. What you do not usually get is a say in whether the sale happens.
A Section 15 transfer is the same bargain with one difference in your favour. Your agreement travels to the new promoter unchanged, the completion date does not move, and the new promoter answers for every obligation the old one had. And unlike a bank's loan sale, it cannot happen unless two-thirds of the buyers agree and the regulator approves.
Your options, compared
| Situation | What the law gives you | Where to act |
|---|---|---|
| A consent form arrives | A vote: the transfer needs two-thirds of allottees and MahaRERA's approval | Read, ask questions in writing, then consent or decline |
| You decline, but two-thirds consent | Your agreement stands against the new promoter, with the original dates | Hold the new promoter to the agreement; complain if it slips |
| The project changed hands with no consent sought | Possibly an unlawful transfer under Section 15, unless the change is one MahaRERA exempts | A complaint to MahaRERA |
| The new promoter says your dates have moved | No extension flows from a transfer under Section 15(2) | Rely on the original date; delay interest runs from it |
| The form also asks to change the plans or common areas | A separate decision needing its own two-thirds consent under Section 14(2) | Decline to combine them; ask for separate forms |
Where transfers come from, and what the regulator's docket looks like
Transfers often happen where a project has stalled and a stronger developer offers to finish it, which is often good news for buyers and always a moment to read closely. They sit against a register in which 13,932 of 56,068 published Maharashtra registrations read Lapsed, per ReraGenie's analysis as updated on 3 October 2026, and many of those are candidates for exactly this kind of revival.
When a transfer goes wrong, the forum is MahaRERA, which disposed of more complaints in 2025 than it received that year, and 81 percent more than in 2024.
Source: MahaRERA figures released on 5 January 2026
What to do when the form arrives
- Do not sign on the first day. Treat a consent as final once you have given it, because the promoter will count it towards the two-thirds on the day it applies. Nothing in the Act requires you to decide within a week.
- Ask for the incoming promoter's identity in full. The legal entity, not the brand. Then read its record on the register: other projects, their promised and actual completion dates, lapses and complaints.
- Ask for the incoming promoter's written undertaking. It should state that it assumes all obligations under your agreement and the Act, with no change to your possession date, price or specifications.
- Check what else the form asks. A consent to transfer should be only that. Any change to plans, common areas or dates needs its own consent.
- Coordinate with the other buyers. Two-thirds is a collective threshold. A buyers' group that asks for the undertaking together gets it faster than individuals do.
- If the transfer happens without the consents the law requires, file a complaint. The process is set out in how to file a MahaRERA complaint.
The single most useful question to put to an incoming promoter is also the simplest: will you confirm, in writing, that my possession date under the agreement does not change? Section 15(2) already says it cannot, and a promoter who hesitates to put that in writing has told you how it reads the law.
What Rohit did
Rohit asked for the incoming developer's legal entity, found it on the register, and read its record: several projects delivered within a few months of their promised dates, one extension with a stated reason, no lapses. He then asked, with a group of other buyers, for a written undertaking on the original possession date and the specifications, and received it within a fortnight. He signed. The transfer was approved, and for the first time in two years his project's quarterly filings began to move.
What the filings add
Everything a buyer needs to judge an incoming promoter is already public. The free developer directory lists every promoter's registrations with their status and dates. For any covered Maharashtra project, the Rs 499 ReraGenie buyer report assembles it into one document: the promoter's other registrations against their original and current completion dates, the extension history with the reasons filed, and complaints and litigation with case numbers. When a project changes hands, the question is no longer only how this project is doing but who is now responsible for it, and the answer should be read before the consent is signed. The broader method is in how to check a builder's track record, and the rights that apply if the new promoter misses the original date are in RERA rules for delayed possession.
The one-line summary
A promoter cannot hand over your project without two-thirds of the buyers and MahaRERA agreeing, and whoever takes it inherits your agreement and your original dates: read the incoming promoter's record, get its undertaking in writing, and treat the consent form as the vote it is.
This article is educational and not legal advice. For a dispute, consult a lawyer who practices before your state's RERA.
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