hi. In april i made contact with a seller for a unit in ocean heights on the 56th floor at aed2000 sqft. We met in may in dubai to sort the necessary paperwork at damac offices. The cust relationship manager checked it all out and advised me that all is in order and i can pay the seller. From may to end of july all my mails and messages went unreplied until i had a chat with roshan who put some pressure on the dubai office. (thanks roshan) today i received a email stating that the notary by the seller is not acceptable to there legal department and the lady at damac who advised us that everything is sorted was mistaken. (she has left damac) Is there any law against this? What happens if the seller just doesnt bother to sort out the paperwork? Who is legally the owner of this unit? I an based in south africa and the seller in Malta. How easily would it be to find a seller in dubai for 2000aed sqft and end this nightmare?, Any other suggestions...

Hi Safrica,

I speak under correction but I don't think it is up to DAMAC to decide of a notary is acceptable or not. My immediate thought is that, perhaps, the seller failed to get the Notary's signature verified in Malta. This is a standard procedure when dealing with important international documents. They have a thing called an apostile, which I think is done by the UAE embassy in his country.

I can imagine that if the signature is not verified then they will not be able to accept the document.

Has the seller indicated that he is not prepared to co-operate?

Regards

Kenny

Safrica, thats why its better to buy properties directly from the developer (if you are lucky) and in your case from DAMAC. There are plenty of DAMAC agents (like me) here in Dubai who can help you get DAMAC properties but remember that never ever give any deposit or do any paper work with the agent, it should always be done with the DAMAC as agent's job is only to refer the buyer to DAMAC.

Let me know if i can be of any help.

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www.mydamacproperty.com
-Properties from DAMAC at even lower rates!

Hi
thanks for your advise,
I was advised by Damac themselves, We made a booking with Damac and the person in charged of transfers advised that all the paperwork is in order,
There seems to be a "accountable" problem in Dubai where no one seems to take responsibility for mistakes on there part...

Hi Kenny
The seller had the documents attested by the Consulate of Malta for Dubai
because there is no embassy there, This documents was verified with the Damac transfer agent, The reality of life is once a person receives his payment the matter of urgency is always forgotten.
Other buyers please beware,
Even if its confirm that all is in order its not.

Is there any recourse i can take???

It is always advisbale to pay the money at the time the transfer takes place, not a penny before that.

The seller can change his mind even after an MOU. If the seller does not bother to sort out the paper work, then the name on the contract ( which is his in this case ) is the owner of the property.

Regards

Roshan

Hi roshan. Are you saying on a normal resale the seller should only transfer the funds once the property is transferred in there name.. What happens in the reverse side if the buyer decides to cancell.. Cmon ppl. I think in all fairness on a resale you are paying 2% for it and if damac transfer agent says all is in order than its there responsibility.
Anyone sold a resale on condition that funds will only be transferred once the property is the buyers name. In case with damac it could take 3 months.

I have seen some horrid instances where the buyer has given a down payment and the deal has gone sour. I have seen cases at RERA where the buyer gave an advance, the seller realized he could get more and backed out. The secondary sales is purely done on the basis of an MOU and goodwill. If the seller is decent, then there is no problem. If the seller is a crook and God forbid there is a problem, he could take advantage of the problem and keep your money also.

What I am saying is that the seller will get his money at the developers office when the transfer takes place and not before or after the transfer. The payment can be made through a bank certified cheque.

If the developer is charging 2%, he is supposed to take care of the transfer, but that 2% is seen only as an additional income and not as a service charge if something goes wrong.

I understand in some countries, there is an escrow account even for the secondary market, where the funds are released only when the transfer takes place.

The deal favors the seller. In some cases, a cheque covering 10% of the value is made out by the buyer and in the event the buyer backs out, he forfeits the money on the cheque. But, I am not a party to this. I would insist to that the full money being paid at the developers office.

Regards

Roshan

Thats exactly what happened,
The transfer papers were sorted at Damacs offices and i was informed that all is in order, i also recieved this mail form Damac
"Further to our meeting dated 5th May 2008, I am writing to confirm that I have received the following Documents:

Pre-requisites for assignment.
Request for assignment
Letter of Assignment.
Assignor Passport Copy
Joint Assignor Passport Copy
Assignee Passport Copy
Power of Attorney Copy"

Here is proof that Damac received all of this in order and later there legal department were not happy with the notary,

Is there no laws in Dubai regarding this?

If there is a mutual understanding to sell-buy between you guys, what does it matter what Damac thinks.

Get the seller to give his no objection and carry on with that. Where are you stuck now ??. Are they refusing to transfer.

This is one the reasons we want to start a community in Dubai where we will hopefully bring investors/agents/brokers/legal experts all under one umbrella. When there are problems like this, we just direct the problem to that entity who will charge no doubt, but will hopefully sort out the headaches.

Pls tell us where you are stuck so that we can think of how to solve the problem.

Regards

Roshan