Gary Clement for The National
Gary Clement for The National
Gary Clement for The National
Gary Clement for The National

Struggling debtors need understanding


Felicity Glover
  • English
  • Arabic

I'm just going to come right out and say it. Banks putting customers in prison for missed payments on their loans or credit cards because, for instance, they lost their jobs defeats the goal of them ever getting back their money.

Instead, lenders in the Emirates should be working with their customers to find a solution that is suitable to both parties, one that will give the person some breathing space and a chance to get back on track financially.

Throwing a person in jail is not going to achieve anything - not for the bank, which will have yet another non-performing loan on its books, nor for the customer, who could languish in prison for years because they can't pay back the money they owe.

Take Kerrin Matthey. Hers is a story like millions of other expatriates who came to the UAE during the boom times of 2006 and 2007, many of whom left their loved ones to bring their skills and experience to help build a country, to give their children and families a better life because they could work hard and save even harder.

But Ms Matthey's story is also one where it all went wrong after she invested in the Dubai property market back in 2008. Just like tens of thousands of other investors who have lost their life savings on developments that never materialised or have been delayed by years. Not only has she lost it all, she is also facing jail.

But, unlike many others in a similar situation, she has chosen to stay - rather than fleeing in the middle of the night for the safety of her home country - to try to put things right.

"I've been told to leave the country, but I won't because I'm not like that," says the widow and mother of two.

Ms Matthey came to the UAE from the United Kingdom nearly seven years ago to work as an interior designer for a large property management company in Dubai. She did the interiors for many of its showroom apartments, as well as travelled around the region to work on other design projects for her firm.

She worked hard, sometimes seven days a week, but she was able to save. She wasn't your typical high-flying, overpaid expat. She was earning Dh32,000 (US$8,711) a month - a large salary for some; possibly average for others - but far from those ridiculously high wages of the boom days.

By the time 2008 came around, Ms Matthey had saved enough that she could consider putting down a deposit for an apartment in an off-plan development in Dubai that had been recommended by a colleague.

"He said it was a 30 per cent down payment and nothing more until completion," she says. "That appealed to me because I didn't have to worry about a mortgage."

She had to borrow from two banks to supplement her deposit - and this was her first mistake - but it was a dream that she'd been working towards for a couple of years and it was in sight. She also had a good job and, more importantly, she could afford the repayments, support her children back in the UK and still live a decent life here.

She decided on a two-bedroom, 1,863-square-foot duplex at a total cost of Dh1,890,945. So far, she has paid Dh567,283 to the developer.

Ms Matthey's contract with the developer states an "anticipated" completion date of December 31, 2009. But, nearly two-and-a-half years later, she says she is still waiting for construction to start.

However, the developer's spokesman insists that construction has started and the completion date is "expected within 14 months".

Despite the delay, Ms Matthey had her job. And while she'd rather have been in her new home and just paying her loans off rather than also forking out for rent, she was staying above water.

But then it all fell apart. She was made redundant and stopped working last November.

She contacted one of her banks, the Abu Dhabi-based First Gulf Bank (FGB), in December to initiate talks in the hope of restructuring the loan she had with them. She says her request was refused. She continued using her savings to meet her loan repayments. She was looking for a job, but she knew that if she couldn't find one fast, her money would run out.

And it did. She says she was still trying to talk to FGB about a restructuring. The bank's collection department in Dubai was still saying no.

After three years and paying off Dh180,000 of the Dh250,000 loan, she missed her first payment in February. She missed her next payment in March. She was able to scrape enough money together to make a partial payment of Dh3,400 on April 12. Now, at the end of May, she's about to miss her third full payment.

Her other loan, also for Dh250,000, with Dubai Bank has been paid on time every month since she lost her job because her end-of-service gratuity of Dh44,000 was deposited in her account with the lender. However, that money runs out at the end of this month.

On April 19, she received notification from FGB that it was recalling her loan and she had to settle the total amount of Dh71,200 still owing. That figure has since increased to Dh71,534.24, according to FGB.

A spokesperson for FGB says Ms Matthey is more than 90 days past due on her payments and her loan is a "non-performing asset as per Central Bank policies".

"We have spoken to her on several occasions trying to give her a workable solution," the FGB spokesperson says. "However, she is not willing to pay more than Dh1,000 per month."

Ms Matthey says Dh1,000 is all she can afford until she finds a job and that she has been receiving threatening phone calls from FGB's collections department in Dubai. She says they told her that she'd never work here again. That she'd go to jail. That they were screaming at her to give them back "my money".

"I haven't been able to get a job and I've been trying very hard," Ms Matthey says. "But this is actually very draining on me; FGB has been contacting me on a weekly basis."

She says the stress of the calls is taking a toll. And she finds it difficult to keep her composure when she talks about it. And no wonder. Nearly two weeks ago, she received a phone call from Al Naif police asking her to come down to the station because a complaint had been lodged against her.

"I was told to bring my passport and I went because I was scared," she says.

"I got there and said to them that it can only be from First Gulf Bank. And it was. But they said I was at the wrong police station, so they handcuffed me and put me in the back of a van and took me to Muraqqabat.

"I was crying. I was handcuffed."

One of her friends lodged her passport with the police as surety. Ms Matthey also surrendered her passport and she was allowed to go home.

But she was back at Al Muraqqabat Police Station last Sunday because her friend was going on holiday and needed her passport.

"They told me I had to go to prison now. But then they asked me how much I owed and said I had to see the prosecutor. I was lucky because I had with me FGB's recall notice, which said I only owed two payments.

"I showed it to the prosecutor and he said Dh19,950 wasn't enough to put me in jail; that I could go, but they would keep my passport.

"It was just luck - it was a weekday and the prosecutor was there."

Ms Matthey is waiting for her court date to be set. In the meantime, she's still trying to find a job - and a way to pay pack her loans.

One option is the cancellation of the development she invested in. This is unlikely, however, because - despite the construction delays - it can only be done by the Real Estate Regulatory Agency.

Under law, the developer would then have to return the money to the project's investors. She says she'd use this money to pay the banks.

"I don't want pity; I just want what's right," she says. "I'm not a victim and I'm here to pay my dues. But I am sure the right thing will be done by a person who has the authority."

The specs: 2019 Mercedes-Benz GLE

Price, base / as tested Dh274,000 (estimate)

Engine 3.0-litre inline six-cylinder

Gearbox  Nine-speed automatic

Power 245hp @ 4,200rpm

Torque 500Nm @ 1,600rpm

Fuel economy, combined 6.4L / 100km

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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RESULTS

1.45pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,400m
Winner: Dirilis Ertugrul, Fabrice Veron (jockey), Ismail Mohammed (trainer)
2.15pm: Handicap Dh90,000 1,400m
Winner: Kidd Malibu, Sandro Paiva, Musabah Al Muhairi
2.45pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,000m
Winner: Raakezz, Tadhg O’Shea, Nicholas Bachalard
3.15pm: Handicap Dh105,000 1,200m
Winner: Au Couer, Sean Kirrane, Satish Seemar
3.45pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,600m
Winner: Rayig, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
4.15pm: Handicap Dh105,000 1,600m
Winner: Chiefdom, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer
4.45pm: Handicap Dh80,000 1,800m
Winner: King’s Shadow, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Results:

Women:

1. Rhiannan Iffland (AUS) 322.95 points
2. Lysanne Richard (CAN) 285.75
3. Ellie Smart (USA) 277.70

Men:

1. Gary Hunt (GBR) 431.55
2. Constantin Popovici (ROU) 424.65
3. Oleksiy Prygorov (UKR) 392.30

Race card for Super Saturday

4pm: Al Bastakiya Listed US$250,000 (Dh918,125) (Dirt) 1,900m.

4.35pm: Mahab Al Shimaal Group 3 $200,000 (D) 1,200m.

5.10pm: Nad Al Sheba Conditions $200,000 (Turf) 1,200m.

5.45pm: Burj Nahaar Group 3 $200,000 (D) 1,600m.

6.20pm: Jebel Hatta Group 1 $300,000 (T) 1,800m.

6.55pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3 Group 1 $400,000 (D) 2,000m.

7.30pm: Dubai City of Gold Group 2 $250,000 (T) 2,410m.

The squad traveling to Brazil:

Faisal Al Ketbi, Ibrahim Al Hosani, Khalfan Humaid Balhol, Khalifa Saeed Al Suwaidi, Mubarak Basharhil, Obaid Salem Al Nuaimi, Saeed Juma Al Mazrouei, Saoud Abdulla Al Hammadi, Taleb Al Kirbi, Yahia Mansour Al Hammadi, Zayed Al Kaabi, Zayed Saif Al Mansoori, Saaid Haj Hamdou, Hamad Saeed Al Nuaimi. Coaches Roberto Lima and Alex Paz.

Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021

Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.

The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.

These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.

“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.

“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.

“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.

“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”

Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.

There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.

“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.

“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.

“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”

About Karol Nawrocki

• Supports military aid for Ukraine, unlike other eurosceptic leaders, but he will oppose its membership in western alliances.

• A nationalist, his campaign slogan was Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April.

• Cultivates tough-guy image, posting videos of himself at shooting ranges and in boxing rings.

• Met Donald Trump at the White House and received his backing.

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting 

2. Prayer 

3. Hajj 

4. Shahada 

5. Zakat 

The specs

Price: From Dh180,000 (estimate)

Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged and supercharged in-line four-cylinder

Transmission: Eight-speed automatic

Power: 320hp @ 5,700rpm

Torque: 400Nm @ 2,200rpm

Fuel economy, combined: 9.7L / 100km

Defence review at a glance

• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”

• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems

• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.

• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%

• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade

• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels

THE SPECS

      

 

Engine: 1.5-litre

 

Transmission: 6-speed automatic

 

Power: 110 horsepower 

 

Torque: 147Nm 

 

Price: From Dh59,700 

 

On sale: now  

 

Our Time Has Come
Alyssa Ayres, Oxford University Press

It Was Just an Accident

Director: Jafar Panahi

Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr

Rating: 4/5

While you're here
Generational responses to the pandemic

Devesh Mamtani from Century Financial believes the cash-hoarding tendency of each generation is influenced by what stage of the employment cycle they are in. He offers the following insights:

Baby boomers (those born before 1964): Owing to market uncertainty and the need to survive amid competition, many in this generation are looking for options to hoard more cash and increase their overall savings/investments towards risk-free assets.

Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980): Gen X is currently in its prime working years. With their personal and family finances taking a hit, Generation X is looking at multiple options, including taking out short-term loan facilities with competitive interest rates instead of dipping into their savings account.

Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996): This market situation is giving them a valuable lesson about investing early. Many millennials who had previously not saved or invested are looking to start doing so now.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills