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Dubai court gives leeway to delinquent property investors

DUBAI: A judgment by the Dubai Court of Cassation has cleared way for a property purchaser whose sale and purchase agreement was terminated for non-payment and the property is re-sold by the developer without a court order, to file a claim to recover the amounts paid.

In a report titled ‘Terminating a contract for an off-plan’, law firm Hadef and Partners said the Dubai Court of Cassation found that going through the Article 11 Cancellation Process was not sufficient to give the developer the right to repossess and to sell the unit, and that a developer still needs to file a civil claim and to obtain a court order for the termination of the existing contract.

“The court took the view that the Article 11 Cancellation Process are simply a set of administrative guidelines/recommendations and they do not override the general requirement that a court should determine the matter and decide whether or not the contract is to be terminated due to the purchaser’s default,” Emirates 24/7 quoted Walid Azzam and Karim Mahmoud’s statement.

This general requirement is found in Article 267 of the Federal Law 5 of 1985 (‘the Civil Code’), which provides that a contract can only be terminated “by mutual consent [of the parties], court order, or under a provision of the law”, the lawyers said.

The Court of Cassation was reported to have said that if a developer re-sold a repossessed unit; the purchaser (even if he was in default) may be able to recover the payment(s) he made.

“Given the recent ruling, the developer’s actions in repossessing the unit and reselling it constitutes a unilateral termination of the contract, so making the developer liable to repay any amounts received from the defaulting purchaser,” the lawyers were quoted as saying.

In the court’s view, Article 11 Cancellation Process is just an administrative step which is separate from obtaining the court’s approval to the termination of the contract.

The law firm reportedly mentioned that in case of a defaulting purchaser, even if the developer is able to de-register the unit from the interim register prior to re-selling that particular unit, it would be strongly recommended to file a claim against the defaulting purchaser to implement the compensation provisions of Article 11 and to secure a court order for the termination of the contract.

The Dubai Land Department (DLD) cancellation process arises out of Law No. 13 of 2008 regulating the Interim Property Register in Dubai (Law No. 13), which was later clarified and amended by Law No. 9 of 2009 (Law No. 9). The revision of Law No 13 by Law No. 9 was intended to set up a clear termination mechanism and to provide guidelines in case purchasers stopped making their contractual payments, reported Emirates 24/7.

It also reportedly established a specific compensation mechanism that correlates to the construction level of the project at the time of the purchasers’ default. Law No. 9 also made the specific article, Article 11, apply retrospectively.

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