Damac buyers consider legal action

There’s plenty of behind-the-scenes activity going on by the Palm Springs Investors Group to ensure their rights are protected. We are not at liberty to disclose the strategy of the group at this stage, suffice it to say that it included a number of initiatives which if put into action could have a very damaging effect on DAMAC’s reputation.

The group is hopeful that Damac, taking note of the Group’s grave concern with the cancellation of the project, will act swiftly to deal with the situation by offering a full and fair settlement, or alternatively an equivalent unit in any new plot provided by the master developer. The website will therefore briefly pause it’s activities to help facilitate a resolution to the situation.

Just one example of media being contacted:

Thank you for your letter to the Guardian. Unless you have indicated otherwise, it will be considered for publication – as long as you have included the following details a full name and full postal address (including street, town and county) and a daytime contact telephone number.

It is also helpful to include a reference (headline, section, publication date) to the article to which your letter refers. Letters are usually published with only a village, town or city as the address (or an organisation where relevant). The other contact details are forverification only. If your email did not include them, please resend the full text of your letter with these details to letters@guardian.co.uk.

Whether or not we publish your letter, it will be read and forwarded, whereappropriate, to the relevant journalist or section editor. Please note that letters may be edited.

Regards
Letters editor
The Guardian

So keep watching this space!

The Damac situation could seriously damage the Dubai market… I can’t believe the UAE government hasn’t done anything about them yet…

…they have come up with a silly offer like this to test the water and hope investors will make a hasty decision of accepting the offert. They did not tell us what would happen after the deadline of 30/3/08 because they are not that sure about the outcome of the first stage of the show. If you look carefully at the accompanying FORM you will clearly see that this form has nothing to do with the content of the cancellation offer. It is merely a REQUEST FORM to initiate cancellation of your purchase. DAMAC is trying to get as many investors as possible to opt out at each stage, like they did when they offered 10% to investors in 2006 to cancel their purchase (which some accepted).

And how are Damac going to feel if in every property show they do and when they launch any new projects there are people distributing leaflets explaining how investors got conned with Palm Springs?

This is the ultimate con by DAMAC – not a matter of delays, lack of compensation, but trying to cancel a project simply because the Palm Jebel Ali has been altered. Nakheel are providing the plot as agreed, which is OUR plot, but DAMAC is trying to rob us of the new plot. They also think they will get away with it, but they seriously did not know the scale of the feeling of investors. Remember that either have been waiting for 4 years, or even worse, paid huge premiums. With the amount of shit that will hit the fan on this one it is going to create some serious ripples.

…..believe me us “Brits” will not take shit lying down. So it is best for all parties to mediate and see sense. All we want is an opportunity to be in PJA as our existing contract states! We have waited four years for this.

we must stay united and fight DAMAC who want to cheat investors; this will be a test for Dubai as a whole and its reputation for outside investors to buy there.

When we win this case, it is will not only be good for Palm Springs investors, but for Dubai as a safe place to invest your money in. If Sheikh Mohammed lets us down then I will definitely never buy in or visit Dubai again, and will strongly advise others to do the same.

If the Palm Springs project ‘cancellation’ by Damac is anything to go by, then Dubai’s reputation as a premier and safe place to invest in real estate is heading for a nose dive. And it seems that the Dubai government is happy to sit by and watch investors being ripped off. If appropriate action is not taken soon, then contracts written by Dubai businesses will not be worth the paper they are written on!

A group of distressed investors (284 to be precise) are suing Tameer Holdings over its failure to deliver apartments that were supposed to be handed over this year. Investors have rejected an offer of 25% on top of the money they have invested.

In spring 2004 investors signed contracts with Tameer Holdings to purchase apartments in Al Ameera Residential Tower development, Sharjah, expecting to move into their new homes in August 2008. The Al Ameera residential tower was to be the largest of its kind in Sharjah mirroring its counterpart in Dubai, the Princess Tower. But that was then.

In August 2005 the buyers received a letter stating that the Al Ameera Tower project had been delayed due to the lack of a licence, resulting from a delay in the implementation of a new real estate ownership law. It is mind boggling that Tameer were selling real estate with contracts that were relying on a yet un-enacted law! As far as we know the law in Sharjah hasn’t changed since the seventies. By any standards, Tameer have misled investors, and their actions need to be investigated by the Dubai government.

The picture of Dubai real estate that seems to be emerging is one where fraud is being overlooked by the government. It is simply not acceptable for Tameer to claim that Sharjah’s property ownership law stipulates that non-GCC nationals can own a 99-year leasehold but not freehold and therefore foreigners were legally not entitled to buy into Al Ameera. Why sell to foreigners when they knew very well this to be the case?

Tameer recently awarded the Arabian Construction Company with the honour to help materialise the Princess Tower by 2009. The tower, based in Dubai Marina, also announced in 2004, is expected to stand over 380 metres high, which would make it the world’s tallest residential tower.

This summer, Tameer made it clear that the law did not allow expatriate ownership and advised that it would cancel all contracts with non-GCC nationals. What happened with local prospective owners is not clear.

SubmitAsite Search Engine submission – FREE Submission to the top Search Engines and Directories