What you should know when selling your property in IC ..Held to Ransom

[wayneis]

I have been contacted by another owner in a different district, who brought from the same Agent as I did and they have had their Transfer Sale held up for months because the building Owner will not show up. many excuses given, as well they do not wish to hand Power of attorney to any one to sign.

There is a simple process in place in Dubai to transfer property when the Building owner/ buyer/seller can not be present and this involves Power of Attorney being given to a person to sign on their behalf.

The Dubai Real Estate Regulatory Authority RERA needs to address this oversight as building owners are holding Apartment Owners to ransom. By Ransom I mean they will not turn up ( because they can not be bothered) or else will only turn up if an additional payment is made.

My case 2 % payment ( of selling price) was required for the building owners representative to turn up and sign transfer papers.

How ridiculous is this and why after much fan fare of looking after the consumer and establishing Real Estate Laws that start to resemble the western world is RERA still only a paper tiger?

[eyeC]

i guess this will apply to all properties in dubai and not just IC..... it is easy to sell now but how about when it becomes buyers market who will wait months to close the deal.....it seems like what ever profit is made on the property they want it back
the developer + building owner + land department

% here % there % everywhere

[eyeC]

hi wayneis

can you take the building owner to court and win the case if he doesnt turn up for the sale?

regards

[wayneis]

Sorry been busy at work however will spend some time answering this as it is very relevant to International City and I do not understand why Nahkeel do not see this as a ticking time bomb as it is going to upset many investors.

My thoughts are that this must change, why would you buy into a project for an investment purpose and then be held to ransom AFTER you have paid all associated charges and own an apartment.

To take some one to court in Dubai is a little different than in England or Australia or the USA or for that matter developed nations where there is an established real estate market, laws and regulations.

Investors are not aware that they can open a Police Case against a Real Estate Agent or developer and the Police Public Prosecutor will decide if a Criminal case exists that will then go to court.

If no criminal case against the defendant is found, it does not mean the party is not guilty, you can still go to Court and have them tried through a civil process. This will involve placing a cheque amount as Guarantee for the money or amount in dispute. The cheque will not be cashed, however the law in Dubai stands that if you write a cheque it must be honored and if you have insufficient funds then you can be placed in jail. Also once a cheque is written it can not be canceled with a phone call to the bank, once again you must use the legal system to cancel a cheque!

My thoughts. If the Building owner refuses to turn up, refuses to delegate power of Attorney for transfer of sale then document this, have the documents translated into Arabic and open a Police Case and inform Nahkeel and RERA as both RERA and Nahkeel seem reluctant to become actively involved at this stage.

Bet you will get co-operation after that!