Rera prueft 27 Real Estate Projekte

[lennox]

27 Projekte werden moeglicherweise durch RERA gestoppt.


aus Gulfnews vom 12.05.2009

Rera to review 27 projects in Dubai

A total of 27 real estate projects are up for possible cancellation in Dubai as the Land department review the status of them.

The ultimate decision to cancel will come by the end of this month, said Marwan Bin Galita, chief executive of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (Rera).

Bin Galita had said earlier that he expected around 25 per cent of projects in Dubai would be cancelled, a figure he said is now "almost the same".

"Law No 9 gives Rera the power to cancel. We are studying 27 projects in the committee but no decision has been taken," Bin Galita said during an event to celebrate the department winning an award for best customer service satisfaction.

A committee is now studying the feasibility of these 27 projects which are all third party projects, ruling out any chance that master-developed projects could go.

The committee comprises three people for trust accounts, a legal advisor and a financial advisor.

A project can be cancelled by Rera, the developer can request a project be cancelled if the investors are paid or there are no investors. A project can also be cancelled if enough investors complain.

"I have one project now where 70 per cent say they are not continuing&They can demand the project be cancelled," Bin Galita said.

Law No. 9 of 2009 came into force recently. It is designed to ensure that investors who put their money into projects which were subsequently cancelled by Dubai government, would get full refunds.

Refunds will be based on how complete the project is at the time of cancellation.

If the developer has completed 80 per cent complete, and the buyer defaults, the buyer must forfeit 100 per cent of the money paid.

If the developer has completed 60 per cent, and the buyer defaults, the developer may retain 40 per cent of the purchase price.

But if a developer has completed less than 60 per cent, they may only keep 25 per cent.

Where the developer has not started construction, the buyer must forfeit 30 per cent of the purchase price.

And if a project is officially cancelled by Rera, the buyer will be refunded all money paid.

However, the retroactive law will not become legally binding until it is published in Dubai's official gazette.

Many developers have been having a tough year and finding it hard to attract investors. Investors too, are also feeling the crunch and some are trying to get out of contracts as cashflow remains a huge issue.

Three new regulations soon to be added to Law No. 9 are designed to make the issue even clearer.

Firstly, the developer will not be able to cancel a contract without a Land Department letter. Without this, the cancelled contract will have no value in court, Bin Galita stressed.

Secondly, the Land Department must attach with the letter a technical report from the site.

And thirdly, while at the moment, investors wishing to cancel must do so in court, the Investors Group have expressed a wish to be able to cancel in the Land Department, which is being studied.

Trust accounts are also to be opened for agents to safeguard investments.

"People should not write a cheque to the agent. A cheque should be given to this [new] trust account or to the landlord directly," Bin Galita said.

There are also plans to create a Credit Rating Agency within the Land Department, which will set criteria for both new and existing developers. Each developer will be ranked according to the criteria.

http://www.gulfnews.com/business/Real_Es...12791.html