Mario Volpi: Dubai tenant must compromise to reconnect air conditioning that has been switched off for non-payment

A row over an unpaid AC bill leaves Dubai tenant in a quandry - should he stay or go?

Regardless of whose fault it is that a bill was not paid, a fee still needs to be paid to reconnect the apartment's air conditioning. Sarah Dea / The National

I rent an apartment via an estate agent. My air conditioning bills come in by email via him. He receives them, forwards them to me and I pay them directly to the provider. A few weeks ago I received an letter under the door stating that my air conditioning has been disabled because of non-payment. I was shocked. I called the provider and they said I had never paid the bill for October but I never received the bill for that month. I called my contact from the agency and he claims that he never received it. He said he wasn't going to pay for the reconnection fee. I don't want to pay for it either since I never received any bill or a reminder. I can't stay during the summer in an apartment without A/C and the bills are under the name of the landlord. My contract expires at the end of the month. I didn't cancel the contract two months ago because I was happy living here. What do you advise? HG, Dubai

I understand that neither of you wishes to foot this bill, and you will have to face facts that to have the service reconnected will require the payment, therefore a compromise/decision will have to be made. My advice would be to initially pay to get the A/C switched back on then see if an agreement can be reached with either the landlord or his representative. I’m sure that you can organise for the provider to send you the invoices rather than this contact. This way you will no longer have to rely on him to forward the bills and you can deal directly with Empower.

I booked an off-plan flat in 2015 under an instalment plan. Under the scheme I paid a 10 per cent advance and have now paid about 35 per cent of the amount, but I did not receive any legal document from the builder. Also, the builder has not started the construction yet, as they say possession will be by 2018. How can I check the legality of the building to avoid fraud and what are the chances of recovering my money? OG, Dubai

Initially, check the status of the project and if the developer is registered. You can do this on the Dubai Land Department (DLD) website (dubailand.gov.ae). Once on the home page, click on the bottom icon, most-used services, then click on project status tracking service. Put in the project name then click on the blue box for all the information. If no information is shown, check the spelling of the project name has been entered correctly. Additionally you should check on the developer by clicking on the search for approved developers. Put the name into the search box and the details should come up. If no data is shown, call the DLD directly on 800 4488 Sunday to Thursday 7.30am to 2.30pm for more information.

Remember, no developer can start a project unless it is recorded in the register retained at Rera. The names and details of the developer licensed to carry out real estate development activities in the emirate of Dubai are recorded in this.

For clarification, before any developer can start to sell properties off plan, he must register the project as per Law 8 of 2008. To do this there is a 10-point process as follows;

• Obtain approval of development plans from Dubai Municipality or competent authority.

• Obtain approval from DLD of detailed CAD drawings. These drawings will be used later for registration of the sale and purchase agreement (Spa) in the interim real estate register

• Submit a copy of the Rera developer registration certificate

• Create a project name

• Open a trust account for the project and [produce a copy of the escrow account with the account trust]

• Produce a copy of the Spa

• Any agency or broker agreement must be registered with Rera by the developer as per Law 13 of 2008 Article 9

• Submit copies of proposed marketing/advertising materials

• Evidence of possession of site and obtaining all necessary approvals from the competent authorities

• There should be no mortgage on the plot, but if it is mortgaged then 20 per cent of the construction must be completed before the developer can sell off-plan or 20 per cent of the value has to be placed into an escrow account

As you can see, the developer has to do many things before being allowed to start selling. Once you have satisfied yourself that the developer has at the very least completed the above, you can rest assured that the only problem will possibly be a delayed project. If you find that none of the above has been completed, I suggest you take legal advice to file a case against the developer.

Mario Volpi is the chief sales officer for Kensington Exclusive Properties and has worked in the property industry for over 30 years in London and Dubai. The opinions expressed do not constitute legal advice and is provided for information only. Please send any questions to [e-mail].

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