Registration, renewal, correction and obligations of real estate agents
An agent's licence to operate is registration under Section 9. No person may facilitate the sale or purchase of, or act on behalf of a party to, a transaction in a plot, apartment or building in a project registered under Section 3, unless registered with MahaRERA. Since the definition sweeps in brokers, middlemen and channel partners, the practical test is simple: do you negotiate or act for a party in the transaction?
Application is made online in the prescribed form with PAN, identity and address proof, photograph, constitution of the firm or company, an undertaking and the fee (Rs 10,000 for individuals; a higher fee for non-individual entities under the MahaRERA schedule). Registration runs for five years and must be renewed; MahaRERA expects the renewal application at least 60 days before expiry, and a lapsed agent must stop facilitating transactions until renewed. Particulars can be corrected or updated - name, address, PAN, partners - on application with the prescribed fee; a material misstatement or fraud exposes the agent to revocation after notice and hearing.
Continuing obligations: quote the MahaRERA registration number in every advertisement and on letterhead; display the certificate at the place of business; maintain books of account and records for five years; verify and disclose the project's registration, approvals, title and encumbrances to the client; hand over documents; never promise returns unsupported by sanctioned plans; never accept consideration outside the documented transaction; facilitate the agreement for sale in the prescribed form.
Traps: agent registration is not project-specific - one registration covers all registered projects in Maharashtra - but it does not license selling an unregistered project. Non-registration attracts a penalty of up to Rs 10,000 per day of continuing default, and such facilitation invites action against both promoter and agent. Worked example: registered 10 June 2019 → valid to 9 June 2024; renewal should be filed by 10 April 2024.