Navigating Property Challenges for NRIs in India from Abroad

On a quiet afternoon in Ajman, United Arab Emirates, thousands of kilometres away from Noida, Saiam Hasan discovered that his rental flat in India was no longer really his, at least not in the way he had left it. The tenants, two students living in his semi-furnished 2BHK near Sector 126, had moved out without notice. There was no phone call, no message, no handover of keys. Rent for the final month hadn’t been paid. The flat was left unlocked, and some furniture was missing. Hasan found out all this not from the tenants, but from the neighbours.

For a non-resident Indian (NRI) landlord, this is a familiar nightmare. Hasan, a radio professional living in the UAE, had bought the property in 2021 as a straightforward rental investment in a student-heavy area near the Amity University. But managing tenants from abroad proved harder than expected. Excuses about delayed rent payments and, finally, a silent exit exposed the limits of long-distance ownership.

Burnt by the experience, Hasan changed his approach. He handed over management to a caretaker who lives in the same society, who now handles everything from tenant verification and paperwork to complaints and furnishing, in return for a small annual fee. The arrangement costs around 15 days’ rent per year but provides peace of mind.

Hasan’s is not the only case.

Past experience shaped how Karan Dewan manages his rental properties today. A finance professional based in Dubai, Dewan owns two properties in Delhi and Gurugram, purchased in 2019 and 2021. While he has family in Delhi, he prefers not to burden them with day-to-day issues. That decision is rooted in earlier troubles with tenants in his father’s property, where occupants were evasive about electricity usage, resisted rent increases linked to indexation, and delayed vacating the premises.

For his own properties, Dewan relies on a trusted local agent to handle upkeep, maintenance, repairs, and tenant verification, including police checks. The service costs about 10% of the monthly rent, a price he considers worth paying for smoother management and peace of mind.

For many NRIs, property ownership in India works only as long as there is a trusted family on the ground. Jayaprasad Venkatasamy, a technology professional based in Seattle, US, owns two apartments in Chennai, bought in 2013 and 2016. However, he is clear that he would not have bought them without his parents managing things locally. Having moved to the US over a decade ago, Venkatasamy says his involvement in the properties is minimal, with his parents handling tenant search, lease renewals, repairs, and day-to-day coordination.

The reliance on family is so central that he says he would sell the properties if his parents were to relocate to the US, rather than deal with the operational burden from abroad. “Managing rental property in India without trusted local support is not worth the hassle, especially given low rental yields and currency depreciation,” said Venkatasamy.

For some NRIs, avoiding the hassle of tenants altogether is a conscious strategy. Roopa Sunilkumar, a homemaker living in Al Ain, UAE, chose to invest only in plots in India rather than rental homes, precisely because plots are easier to manage from abroad. Her family owns a couple of plots in Bengaluru, including one inside a gated community purchased over a decade ago, where security, cleanliness, and basic upkeep are handled collectively through an owners’ association that charges a periodic maintenance fee. With no tenants involved, Sunilkumar says the biggest pain points of NRI ownership, such as rent delays, property damage, plumbing issues, or illegal occupation, are largely avoided.

For Sunilkumar, the trade-off is clear: lower involvement, fewer risks, and peace of mind over monthly rental income.

Many NRIs face persistent challenges in managing rental properties in India due to physical distance and complex legal jurisdictions. Common issues include rent payment delays or defaults, unauthorised subletting, conversion of residential premises to commercial use, disputes over maintenance responsibilities, and unapproved structural modifications. In several cases, tenants exploit the landlord’s absence to prolong occupation or neglect upkeep of the property. These risks are amplified in states governed by tenant-protective rent control laws such as parts of Maharashtra under the Maharashtra Rent Control Act, 1999, where legal remedies for landlords remain limited.

Landlords say that sometimes tenants damage flats beyond normal wear and tear, refuse to vacate after the lease expires. Eviction remains difficult for NRIs, with cases stretching over years due to judicial backlogs and narrow statutory grounds for eviction.

As overseas ownership of Indian homes rises, a growing ecosystem of NRI-focused property management firms is stepping in to bridge the distance between landlords and their assets. One of the largest players in this space is NoBroker, which offers a comprehensive property management solution tailored for NRIs. “This is an end-to-end solution,” Amit Agarwal, Co-Founder and CEO, NoBroker explains, covering tenant discovery, rental agreements, rent collection, renewals, tenant exits, periodic inspections, and home maintenance. Beyond rentals, the platform also supports buyer and seller searches, legal documentation, power of attorney, taxation consultations, and even services such as painting, cleaning, and packers and movers.

What NRIs look for, Agarwal says, is convenience and professionalism. Many have lived in markets such as the US, Europe, Canada, or the UAE, where property management is institutionalised. “Managing all aspects separately is a nightmare across time zones,” he notes, which is why demand is highest for end-to-end property management rather than piecemeal services.

Platforms, such as NoBroker, provide a dedicated property manager who coordinates with owners as per their time zone, along with a field relationship manager responsible for inspections and tenant interactions. Owners can track rent collection, tenant status, and maintenance updates in real time via the app. Lease enforcement is strengthened through a tripartite agreement among the platform, the landlord, and the tenant, clearly outlining responsibilities and exit conditions.

Cost-wise, NoBroker charges an onboarding fee of Rs.30,000 and a recurring 8% of the monthly rent once a tenant moves in. This fee covers lifetime tenant search, rent collection, renewals, inspections, maintenance coordination, and dispute handling.

A similar demand is evident among smaller, specialised firms such as NRIWAY, a property management company whose clients are 90-95% NRIs. Operating across major metros, including Pune, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, and Delhi-NCR, NRIWAY grew out of documentation services after repeated requests from overseas clients struggling with property misuse, non-payment of rent, and lack of local oversight.

“Physical and geographical barriers make even basic communication difficult,” Rupali Bansu, Sales Director at NRIWAY says, adding that many NRIs actively avoid burdening parents or relatives.

Charges vary widely by city and service model. In Mumbai, owners often prefer percentage-based fees, while in Delhi-NCR, fees equivalent to 15-20 days’ rent are common. In cities like Bengaluru and Pune, a one-month rent equivalent is often charged. Annual maintenance packages typically begin in the second year and are linked to rental value.

A well-drafted rental agreement is critical for NRIs renting out property in India, as it offers legal protection that standard, broker-led agreements often fail to provide. According to Chandwani, such agreements must be tailored to the realities of absentee ownership and clearly override default statutory provisions where permitted.

“Broker-drafted agreements are frequently inadequate,” she says, noting that they often omit essential clauses. These include mandatory tax deduction at source by tenants under Section 195 of the Income Tax Act, explicit bans on subletting or commercial use with penalties, clearly defined maintenance responsibilities, inspection rights, automatic termination for repeated defaults, rent escalation mechanisms, arbitration clauses to speed up dispute resolution, and detailed rules for security deposit adjustment and refunds.

Chandwani also cautions NRIs about the legal risks arising from poorly drafted or overly broad Powers of Attorney (PoA). While PoAs are essential for remote management, vague delegations can enable misuse, ranging from unauthorised leasing to improper rent collection or even encumbering the property. Such actions may result in civil litigation or, in severe cases, criminal proceedings. Limiting PoAs to specific functions, registering them where required, and reviewing them periodically can mitigate these risks.

Selling property in India while living overseas is often a long and legally intensive process for NRIs. “The process is cumbersome, lengthy, and problematic,” says Sunita Mishra, Head of Content Strategy & Insight at Square Yards, explaining that these very challenges led Square Yards to focus heavily on NRI clients. Property, she notes, is a tangible asset that is vulnerable to fraud and legal disputes, risks that are heightened when owners are not physically present in India. Distance makes it harder to intervene and manage the process effectively, making professional assistance crucial.