Dubai ruler and UAE vice president Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid provided a new law governing under construction and also called off property projects in the emirate.
The law consists, a special tribunal is being set up to overlook the clearance of under construction and called off projects as well as the settling of the alike claims, as per the statement from the Dubai Media Office. It will replace an existing committee set up in 2013 that overlooks claims in relation to cancelled projects.
The chairman of Dubai’s Judicial Council will appoint the members of the new special tribunal.
“The tribunal will … review and settle disputes and complaints arising from unfinished, cancelled or liquidated real estate projects, “It will also encounter the existing cases that the previous committee has not dealt with.
The new committee will have command over all the property disputes in the emirate in relation to the under-construction or called off projects, meaning cases over stalled projects cannot be filed at the Dubai International Financial Centre Courts. Conclusions made by the tribunal are “ final and uncontestable”, the statement said.
Where Dubai Land Department’s Real Estate Regulatory Agency(Rera) has considered a project to be called off, the tribunal will be responsible for the decline of the assets and will “define the rights of investors and purchasers”. It also has the control to set up subcommittees, make changes to money trails and issue orders to holders of project funds in escrow accounts to make transactions.
A second-order also come into play relating to the emirate’s Interim Real Estate Register, which provides that if a developer anyhow failed a property project for the reasons other than their control, or if it has been called off by Rera, the developer in question “must refund the entire amount paid by purchasers”.
All together the two laws will come into play once published in the emirate’s Official Gazette.
The introduction of the new laws is “very positive news”, Elaine Jones, executive chairman of property consultancy Asteco, said.
They provide “a clear route for resolution of pending cases and assures new investors that their interests will be protected and resolved in an efficient manner”, she added.