Buyer awarded refund for off-plan investment

An investor in the Niki Lauda Twin Towers in Dubai was recently awarded a refund by Dubai Courts. Ron Oakley, a British investor, bought two units in the off-plan project launched by the german developer, ACI, in late 2007. In March 2009 he filed a lawsuit against ACI, trying to recover his investments of more than Dh1m because of the project being more than 20 months behind schedule.

Dubai Courts have now decided the agreement between Oakley and ACI for one of the units is void because the unit was never registered with the Dubai Land Department. ACI was ordered to pay back his Dh569,585 plus a 5 per cent interest rate from the day he started the court proceedings. The other unit was registered with the Land Department and was therefore protected by the law, but Mr. Oakley said he would continue the fight to claim back his remaining Dh695,000.

“It’s like throwing good money after bad, but having two units makes it worthwhile,” he said.

Mr. Oakley’s investment for the other unit remains in an escrow account, and cannot, according to the law, be paid back unless the project is officially cancelled by Dubai’s Real Estate Regulatory (RERA). This law also states that the money must be used to fund construction, but this also means, according to some lawyers, that developers might not have the money to refund investments if court orders are issued.

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