Rera and investors band together

source The National
DUBAI // The Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) and a group of private property investors will combine to create an investor’s advisory panel that will provide feedback to the Government as it tries to resolve disputes.

Marwan bin Ghalita, the chief executive of RERA, agreed to the plan during a meeting with the Dubai Property Investors Group, a coalition of more than 350 investors that was formed after sales began to slow last year. Group members say they are concerned about the safety of their investments and ability to get their money back if a developer cancels a project or refuses to start construction.

“We want to protect the real estate investors,” Mr Ghalita said. “We are studying project by project… Once we have enough information about a project, we will intervene as a regulator.”

Ludmila Yamalova, a lawyer with MAC Davidson & Associates and a member of the investors group, said she was encouraged by the meeting with Mr Ghalita.

“Until today’s meeting, we felt that the Government was in denial,” she said. “But he was very welcoming to investors. He said we all made mistakes, investors and developers. Now we need to solve the problems and move forward.”

Mr Ghalita emphasised to the group that all investors need to register their transactions with the Land Department, including reservation agreements and booking receipts, to ensure that the Government can help with disputes and investigate developers that are acting incorrectly. He warned that in many cases, the issue between buyers and developers is contractual and will have to be settled in court.

The investors group also discussed the details of a petition they delivered to RERA on Jan 18 that called on the Government to take measures to protect their investments and prevent unscrupulous developers from absconding with funds.

“Any measure short of announcing which developers are bankrupt will continue to let real estate prices free fall,” the petition said, according to Zawya Dow Jones. “We do not want to make any more payments until we have proof that the developers have the financial ability to deliver our units.”

The petition also called on the Government to cancel large developments now in their early phase, including Dubailand and Nakheel’s Waterfront, because they were no longer sustainable in the dampened market.

The Dubai Property Investors Group was set up to “discuss the protection of the rights of investors in the Dubai property market by seeking a dialogue with the developers and the government to find sustainable, working solutions in these demanding times”, according to the group’s website.