RAK tenants may be caught in fee dispute between landlords and developer

Tenants of Al Hamra Village in Ras Al Khaimah may be caught in a fees dispute between landlords and the developer.

RAS AL KHAIMAH // Tenants at Al Hamra Village fear they will be locked out of their homes when owners with outstanding fees are denied entry owing to a new security system.
An access card system is planned to start operating on October 1, but owners who owe fees will not be issued with the cards that allow them to enter their properties.
Most owners have refused to pay backdated fees for their air conditioning. On June 1, landlords were issued with their first bills for AC use from January to March based on electricity consumption. Many had not used their AC units at all and have refused to pay.
Ninety-six per cent of 1,500 apartments owners owe utility fees for 2012. Fifty-four per cent of owners owe association fees for maintenance, and 70 per cent of association fees are unpaid.
Al Hamra Village has 2,500 residential apartments and 1,000 villas and townhouses.
"It's not just Al Hamra's problem, it's a problem for all of the owners," said Colin Taylor, who has owned a flat since 2009 and is secretary of Al Hamara Apartment Committee. "We should try to work together on this but they don't seem to be too happy to work with us."
Others have refused to pay their maintenance fees because of unfinished tile work and landscaping.
Al Hamra Real Estate said it based bills on electricity consumption because it could not calculate AC use until the installation of BTU meters was complete. About 500 of 2,500 BTU meters have been so far been installed and the work should be completed by December 31.
Subsequent AC bills have increased up to four-fold to Dh1,900 a month.
One British owner who bought in 2009 stopped paying his maintenance fees this year when AC charges were introduced. They have already risen from Dh400 a month to Dh1,600 a month.
"We are threatened with not being issued the access card if we don't clear all the outstanding bills in full. On this occasion I have delayed all payment until we sort out the chiller issue," he said.
He had previously paid his maintenance fees in a timely manner, despite having a view from his window of a plot of land used as a scrapyard, dump, and sewage pit.
One flat owner and property manager from the UK, 53, said she had never paid maintenance fees for her Dh1.8 million flat because the finishings were never completed.
"As soon as you pay, they stop working," she said.
She said that all of the 40 property owners she manages have wanted to resell but cannot afford the loss. "Tenants are moving out in droves because the chiller fees are so high," she said.
Like many, she did not want to be named. "Al Hamra, basically they rule us," she said. "They own everything here and if you cross them they can get really nasty."
A property management agent who has lived in Al Hamra since 2008, said almost half the 70 owners she represents wanted to sell after the AC fees and access card changes were announced.
"Everybody is getting scared and they don't have confidence anymore, because if we agree on this, what is going to happen next," she asked. "It's just breaking the contract."
Tenants are caught in the middle. Many landlords are outside the country and had not been notified of the changes.
"I have asked Al Hamra three or four times what is going to happen when you put the system in and people can't get in their flats," said a North American tenant who has lived there for two years. "They just kind of look at me and smile."
Many tenants were told that they will need an access card to leave buildings, prompting concerns about fire safety. Residents said they were told locks would be placed on emergency exits that would unlock automatically during a fire.
"Al Hamra Real Estate will, guided by RAK Civil Defence, put into place adequate control measures to ensure the safety of the occupants," said an Al Hamra spokesman. "It is accepted in many cases the need for security will require some form of locking device that prevents unlimited access, but still enables the occupants of a building or area to open doors easily if there is a fire. Al Hamra Real Estate is mindful that the balance must remain on the side of safety escape rather than security."
Al Hamra administration refused to meet with a committee of 200 landlords established to address these issues.
"They say the committee is illegal," Mr Taylor said. "They have not shared anything on costs whatsoever. I have repeatedly asked for costs on how the square footage management charge is calculated."
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