News: MahaRERA: Husband With PoA Can File Delay Complaint-31-08-2026
Even when a flat stands solely in the wife’s name, her husband can bring a complaint before a RERA authority against the developer if he is properly authorised to act for her, an interim Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) order says. He was also the primary co-borrower on the home loan and had a valid Power of Attorney (PoA) from her, which sufficed to pursue a delayed-possession complaint for her.
The case involved a flat in a Nagpur, Maharashtra project. The developer disputed maintainability, saying the husband was not the registered owner or allottee and was a stranger to it. The sale deed was only in the wife’s name, so he was not an "allottee" under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, the developer argued, and could not file under Section 31 or claim a buyer’s status under an Agreement for Sale, as defined in Section 2(d).
The husband answered that he was no stranger: he was primary co-borrower on the bank’s housing loan and held an authority letter and a notarised General Power of Attorney from his wife. He had approached MahaRERA over alleged delay in possession, incomplete amenities and other issues, seeking relief including compensation under Sections 7, 14, 15 and 18, and described himself as co-borrower, husband and duly authorised PoA holder.
MahaRERA studied the documents and rejected the objection. It turned to Section 2(x), the definition of "family", noting that an immediate family member, including husband, wife, minor son or unmarried dependent daughter, is part of the allottee unit and has standing to complain. Because the flat is allotted for the whole family’s habitation and benefit, any member hit by non-possession, incomplete amenities or structural defects is an "aggrieved person", it said, also relying on Section 31.
It recorded that the husband, a housing loan co-borrower, held a valid, notarised General Power of Attorney and Authority Letter from the registered allottee. Under MahaRERA Regulations and general law an allottee may be represented by an authorised PoA holder or spouse, so he could not be termed an "unrelated stranger" lacking locus standi, and the developer’s objection was rejected.
