Dubai authorities continue to relentlessly improve the legislation in the area of the real estate market regulation. Here, in Dubai, everything is aimed at the customer, i.e. the buyer or the tenant. We’ve already mentioned the fact that, when buying off-plan property you can even earn extra money on your deposits like you do in the bank. We’ve also reported that all deposits are protected by law against any speculations on part of a developer: all buyers’ investments are collected at a special escrow accounts, the developer can withdraw money from only when the construction reaches a certain milestone.
But now, Dubai legislators decided to go further and ensure that those, who, for some reason, had changed their mind and no longer aim at buying of-plan property, can claim full refund, but, of course, under certain conditions. This statement was made by the Dubai Cassation Court recently.
If, for example, an off-plan property sale and purchase agreement is terminated due to non-payment from the buyer, and the developer then re-sells this property to another buyer, the first purchaser can now file a claim to recover the amounts paid before the contract was terminated. But only in case when the developer hasn’t received a court order for termination of the previous contract before reselling the unit.
Referring to Article 11 Cancellation Process, Dubai's lawyers have put a report on this point, which essentially boils down to the fact that Article 11 and the Cancellation Process itself are no more than a set of administrative guidelines and they do not override the general requirement that a court should determine the matter in case of the contract termination due to the purchaser’s default.
Also, imexre.com recently reported that RERA has emphatically stated: off-plan developers cannot impose extra costs on investors after sale in any case, even when the housing area had increased slightly during construction, like it happened in recent case with Jumeirah Village apartments, when the developer had imposed extra 50% property cost after handover.
All the subtleties and nuances of the legal processes in such cases you can solve after consulting our lawyers. They will explain you everything with precise indication of the law articles, legislation processes, and will tell you exactly what to do to get your money back. Take advantage of our convenient Buyers’ Guide or Tenant’s Guide, and if you still will have questions, we are always happy to give you a detailed advice.