Best RERA Lawyers in Patna

Patna's apartment market is built differently from Delhi's or Mumbai's. Most buildings are put up on land owned by a family, under an agreement between the landowner and a local builder, with the flats shared between them. Projects are smaller, builders are often individuals or partnerships rather than large companies, and much of the money changes hands in ways that are harder to document. When things go well, families get modern flats in good neighbourhoods. When they don't, buyers can find themselves caught between a builder and a landowner who have fallen out, in a building without a sanctioned plan, on land whose records are unclear.

This page is a practical guide to Patna, area by area, for local buyers and for the many Bihari families in Delhi NCR who've bought flats back home for their parents or for themselves. We act in Patna matters through our associate office. For Bihar RERA's procedure and the law in more detail, see our page on Bihar RERA.

The bodies involved

• Bihar RERA, for registered (and unregistered) projects across the state, with its adjudicating officer for compensation.
• The Bihar Real Estate Appellate Tribunal, for appeals.
• The Patna High Court, for second appeals and writs.
• The Patna Municipal Corporation and the planning authority for the Patna region, for building plan approvals and completion certificates.
• The revenue administration, including the circle offices, for land records and mutation.
• The Bihar State Housing Board, for its own schemes and land.
• The consumer commissions, including the Patna District Commission and the Bihar State Commission.

Area by area

Bailey Road, Boring Road and the western core

The most sought-after addresses, with older bungalows being redeveloped into apartments under landowner-builder arrangements. Issues: disputes between the landowner and the builder over the share of flats, delay, deviations from the sanctioned plan, parking, and title where the land was divided among family members.

Rajendra Nagar, Kankarbagh and the eastern areas

Dense, older residential areas, some of them low-lying. The waterlogging of September and October 2019, when parts of Patna, including Rajendra Nagar and Kankarbagh, stayed under water for days, was a sharp lesson in drainage and site levels. Issues: defects, ground-floor and basement flooding, ageing buildings and redevelopment.

Patliputra, Ashiana-Digha Road and the north-west

Popular areas with many mid-sized apartment buildings. The Digha area has a particular history: land originally acquired for the state housing board decades ago was occupied and built on, and its status has been the subject of long disputes and a settlement scheme. Buyers here should check the land's status with particular care.

Danapur, Saguna More, Khagaul and the western expansion

Patna's main growth corridor, with many new apartment projects and plotted colonies towards Danapur and beyond, and further out towards Bihta. Issues: delay, approvals for projects at the edge of planning limits, services, and land records.

Anisabad, Phulwari Sharif and the south

Mixed areas with apartments and colonies, extending along the bypass. Issues include approvals, title and services.

When the landowner and the builder fall out

The single most common Patna problem we see is a building stuck because the landowner and the builder have stopped cooperating: over the landowner's share, money the builder promised, deviations the landowner didn't agree to, or the builder selling more flats than its share. Buyers who paid the builder for a flat suddenly find the landowner disputing the sale.

Under RERA, where the person who constructs and the person who sells are different, both are promoters and are jointly liable for their functions under the Act. In a typical Patna development, both the landowner and the builder may therefore be responsible to buyers, depending on the development agreement and who sold the units. A buyer's complaint to Bihar RERA should usually name both, and include the development agreement if the buyer has a copy or can obtain it. Bihar RERA can direct both to complete the project, deliver possession, execute the deed, or refund with interest.

Where the dispute between landowner and builder is about their own agreement, they may be in arbitration or a civil suit with each other. That doesn't stop buyers from pursuing their RERA remedies, though it can complicate execution. See Bihar RERA.

Land records, mutation and the state survey

Property in Bihar depends heavily on revenue records: the record of rights from earlier surveys, the current rent records (jamabandi), and mutation of ownership in the revenue records after each transfer (dakhil-kharij). In Patna, many plots have been divided among heirs, sold in parts, or held without updated mutation for decades. That creates risk for apartment buyers, because a building is only as secure as the title to the land beneath it.

In 2024, the state began a large special survey to update land records across Bihar. For property owners, this means that records may change, claims and objections may be invited, and it's important to ensure that the land under a building is correctly recorded. Apartment associations and landowners should watch the survey's progress in their area and file claims or objections where needed.

Before buying a flat in Patna, ask for:

• the chain of title documents for the land, including any family partition;
• the current mutation and rent records in the landowner's name;
• a check for any pending land disputes or survey objections; and
• confirmation that the landowner has authorised the development and the sale of your flat.

Sanctioned plans and deviations

Many Patna buildings were built beyond their sanctioned plans, with extra floors or reduced setbacks, and some without a sanctioned plan at all. Unauthorised construction can lead to municipal notices, sealing or demolition orders, and refusal of completion certificates, which in turn affects registration and services. Before buying, compare the building with its sanctioned plan, especially the number of floors. If you already own in a building with deviations, you may have claims against the builder and landowner for selling a flat they couldn't lawfully deliver as promised.

Common claims under RERA

Delay

Under Section 18(1), a buyer facing delay can withdraw with a refund and interest at the rate in the Bihar rules, or stay with interest for every month of delay until a valid offer of possession. The Supreme Court in Newtech (2021) confirmed that the choice is the buyer's and that the Act applies to projects ongoing in 2017. See refund and delay interest.

Registration of the sale deed

In Patna, buyers often wait a long time for the sale deed, sometimes because the landowner and builder disagree, sometimes because the building has no completion certificate, and sometimes because the builder wants more money. Under Section 17, the promoter must execute a registered conveyance deed within the prescribed time. Bihar RERA can direct execution. See registry delays.

Parking, roof and common areas

Disputes about who owns the roof, the parking area and the ground floor are common in Patna's smaller buildings, where builders or landowners sometimes keep or sell these separately. Under RERA, common areas include terraces, open parking areas and community facilities, and the promoter can't take them back or sell them separately. See charges and common areas.

Defects and drainage

For flats handed over within five years, the developer must fix structural defects and defects in workmanship, quality or services within 30 days of written notice under Section 14(3). Ground-floor and basement flooding in low-lying areas, seepage and cracking are the common complaints. See defects.

Small projects and the registration threshold

Many Patna buildings are small, with a handful of flats on a modest plot. RERA registration is required for projects above the threshold in Section 3(2)(a), land over 500 square metres or more than eight units, including all phases, unless the state has lowered it. Smaller buildings may not need registration, and buyers' disputes then go to the consumer commission or civil court. Buyers should check whether their building needed registration, because some builders split one project into parts to stay under the threshold, which the Act's "inclusive of all phases" wording is meant to prevent.

Pursuing a Patna case from Delhi NCR

A lot of our Patna work comes from Bihari families in Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad and Gurugram who bought a flat in Patna for their parents. For them:

• Bihar RERA complaints are filed online, with hearings online where available, and our associate office handles local appearances.
• Consumer complaints can be filed where the buyer lives or works, including in the NCR, under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. See consumer commissions.
• A power of attorney to a parent or relative in Patna helps with inspections, registration and association matters.
• Payments made from different family members' accounts should all be documented.

Plots on Patna's edges

As Patna spreads west towards Danapur and Bihta, south along the bypass and north-east across the Ganga bridges, plotted colonies are being laid out on agricultural land. Some are proper registered projects with approved layouts. Many are simply agricultural land divided into plots by a seller. Before buying a plot, check whether the land has been converted for non-agricultural use as the state's law requires, whether the layout has been approved by the planning authority, whether the project is registered with Bihar RERA if it's above the threshold, and, above all, whether the seller's title and mutation are clean. A plot bought without these checks can be impossible to build on lawfully or to sell later.

Growth corridors attract speculation. Plans for new airports, industrial areas or roads are reasons to look, not reasons to pay without checking. The developer's obligations are what's in the agreement and the RERA registration, not what's promised about future infrastructure.

Associations and maintenance

Bihar has its own law on apartment ownership, the Bihar Apartment Ownership Act, 2006, which governs ownership of flats, common areas and associations of apartment owners, alongside RERA. In Patna's smaller buildings, associations are often informal, and the builder or landowner may keep control of common areas and maintenance for years. Under RERA, the promoter must enable the association's formation and hand over common areas and documents. Residents should form a proper association, keep accounts, and insist on handover of the roof, parking areas and common facilities as common property. See handover.

Recovery in Bihar

If a builder doesn't pay a Bihar RERA order, recovery goes through the district Collector, for Patna district, as arrears of land revenue. Many Patna builders are individuals or partnerships rather than companies. That can help recovery: in a partnership firm, the partners are generally jointly and severally liable for the firm's debts, and an individual builder's own assets can be pursued. Unsold flats in the builder's share of the building are an obvious target. Buyers who identify assets and follow up in writing tend to see results. See recovery.

Refund or wait: a Patna view

Patna property prices have risen in good locations, and a completed, properly registered flat in a sought-after neighbourhood is a valuable asset. For a buyer in a building that's nearly finished, with the landowner and builder cooperating, waiting with delay interest often makes sense. For a buyer in a building stuck in a landowner-builder dispute, or with serious deviations, a refund may be safer, though recovering it may need persistence. Section 18(1) gives the buyer the choice. We look at the title, the approvals and the parties' positions before advising.

Documents to have ready

• Allotment letter, agreement for sale, and the development agreement between landowner and builder if available.
• Receipts for every payment, bank statements, and evidence of any cash payments.
• The sanctioned plan, and the completion certificate if issued.
• Land documents: title chain, mutation and rent records, partition deeds, and survey notices.
• Letters and messages from the builder and landowner about delay, possession and the sale deed.
• Photographs of the building's progress, defects or flooding, with dates.
• For NCR families: a power of attorney to a relative in Patna, if someone there will act for you.

How long things take

Bihar RERA complaints are usually decided within some months; contested matters, especially those involving landowner-builder disputes, take longer. Directions to complete a building or obtain a completion certificate take time to carry out. Recovery depends on identifying the builder's assets. Land record corrections, through mutation or the state survey, follow their own processes and can take time. Consumer complaints vary with the commission's workload.

For builders and landowners

Patna's builders and landowners should know that RERA treats both as promoters where they share the development, and that both can be held responsible to buyers. Registering projects above the threshold, building to the sanctioned plan, running a proper project account, taking payments only through banks, and keeping the development agreement's division of flats clear to buyers prevent most disputes. Splitting one project into parts to stay under the registration threshold doesn't work, because the threshold counts all phases. Agents dealing in registered projects need Bihar RERA registration. See project registration and agent registration.

Acting together

In Patna's mid-sized buildings, twenty or thirty families usually face the same problem at the same time. A joint complaint by the buyers, with shared documents and one lawyer, is cheaper and carries more weight. Once the building is complete, a formal association protects everyone's rights in the roof, parking and common areas. See group complaints.

When possession is offered

Before accepting possession of a Patna flat, ask for the completion certificate, check that the flat matches the agreement in carpet area and specification, and confirm that the landowner has no objection to your flat being handed over. Clarify what you're getting in the roof, parking and ground floor. Compare the final demand with the agreement, and question any charges for electricity connection, generator, lift or "society formation" that weren't agreed. Inspect the flat, record defects in writing, and keep photographs. If the builder insists on an undertaking that you have no claims, don't sign a blanket waiver; taking possession doesn't by itself end a claim for delay compensation, following Arifur Rahman Khan v. DLF Southern Homes (2020).

Bihari families abroad

Many Patna flats are bought by families working in the Gulf, the UK or the United States, or by their relatives on their behalf. Payments from NRE and NRO accounts, and from relatives' accounts, should all be documented in the agreement or receipts. Complaints can be pursued online, with a power of attorney to a relative in Patna. Refunds can be received into NRO or NRE accounts depending on how payments were made. See NRI buyers.

Housing Board and older colonies

The Bihar State Housing Board developed colonies and flats in Patna over many decades, and some of its land has been occupied or built on in ways that later raised disputes. Allottees of Housing Board properties, and buyers of property on land with a Housing Board history, should check the property's status with the Board and the revenue records. Disputes with the Board are usually dealt with through its own processes, the consumer commissions or the Patna High Court, rather than RERA.

Where a family has held such property for many years on old documents, take advice on regularising title before selling or redeveloping, because buyers and banks will ask for a clean chain.

A clean chain usually means registered deeds, updated mutation and, where the Board or the state settled the land, the settlement documents in the current owner's name.

An illustration

Here's a made-up example. A Noida-based engineer booked a 3BHK for his parents in a 20-flat building off Saguna More in 2018, paying Rs 48 lakh to the builder, partly by bank transfer and partly in cash against receipts. The development agreement gave the landowner eight flats and the builder twelve. In 2022, with the building at the finishing stage, the landowner accused the builder of selling one of the landowner's flats and of adding a floor not in the plan. Work stopped.

Through our associate office, he files a Bihar RERA complaint naming both the builder and the landowner, attaching the bank statements, the receipts, his allotment letter and a copy of the development agreement obtained from another buyer. Bihar RERA treats both as promoters, directs them to complete the building and obtain the completion certificate, and awards delay interest on the amounts proved. On the cash payments, the receipts and the builder's own ledger, produced on the authority's direction, help establish the amount. The landowner and builder later settle their dispute, and the building is completed.

Checks before buying in Patna

• Bihar RERA registration, for projects above the threshold.
• The sanctioned plan from the municipal or planning authority, and whether the building matches it.
• Land title: the chain of documents, mutation and rent records, family partition, and any survey objections or disputes.
• The development agreement between the landowner and builder, and which flats belong to whom.
• Who you're paying: pay by bank transfer to the account named in the agreement, never in cash without a proper receipt.
• Parking, roof and common areas: what's included in your purchase.
• Drainage and flood history, especially in low-lying areas.
• The agreement: see agreement review.

How we help

1. Advise Patna, Bihar and NCR clients on Patna property matters through our associate office.
2. File Bihar RERA complaints naming all promoters, including landowners.
3. Pursue sale deeds, completion certificates and common area rights.
4. Check title, mutation and land records before purchase.
5. File consumer complaints where the buyer lives, under the 2019 Act.
6. Handle appeals and Patna High Court matters with associate counsel.

Frequently asked questions

Which RERA covers Patna?

Bihar RERA, for the whole state.

The landowner and builder are fighting. Who do I complain against?

Usually both. Where the person who constructs and the person who sells are different, both can be promoters and jointly liable.

I paid part of the price in cash. Can I still claim?

Yes, if you can prove the payment. Receipts, the builder's ledger and other evidence help. Avoid cash payments in future.

Does the Bihar land survey affect my flat?

It may update the records of the land under your building. Make sure the land is correctly recorded and file claims or objections if needed.

My building is small. Is it under RERA?

Only if it exceeds the threshold of 500 square metres of land or eight units, including all phases. Otherwise, use the consumer commission or civil court.

Can I file my Patna case from Delhi?

Bihar RERA complaints are online. A consumer complaint can be filed in Delhi if you live there.

General information for buyers of property in Patna under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 and related Bihar laws. Land records, the state survey, planning rules and authority practice change; check the current position before acting. Not legal advice.