DUBAI: Property Owners Association (OA) members in Dubai will have to get a ‘good conduct certificate' from police before they take charge, a senior government official told XPRESS.
The Real Estate Regulatory Agency (Rera) said they have started contacting existing associations and new members to submit the certificate as early as possible.
Speaking to XPRESS, Mohammad Khalifa Bin Hammad, Head of Real Estate Relations Management, Rera, said: "Many OAs are asking for the right to control the finances of managing their buildings and communities. This means they will be doing transactions on the account themselves and for this we have made it mandatory for them to get a clearance from Dubai Police," he said.
Bin Hammad said the agency was ready to register OAs as legal bodies. "This will give them legal rights to manage their buildings and communities."
Observers said the move will regulate the market and bring solace to property owners. Currently, all 271 OAs in Dubai are Interim Owners Associations with no legal right to sue or be sued. Once OAs become legal entities, they will function independently and wrest control of finances from developers to manage buildings and communities
"They have to submit a common area site-plan, a jointly-owned property declaration, good conduct police certificate and minutes of the annual general meeting (AGM)," said Bin Hammad. Once the papers are in order, Dubai Land Department (DLD) will issue a letter to the interim OA to open an account in one of their approved list of banks. Each OA will have a separate bank account.
Bin Hammad said they are in the process of signing Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with a number of UAE banks.
Welcome step
Various stakeholders of the realty sector have welcomed the move. Dr Hamid Mirlohi, Chairman, Interim Owners Association (IOA), Al Shera Tower, said: We have been waiting for the formalisation of IOAs as legal bodies. It is an extremely important step towards regulating the property sector. This will resolve many disputes between associations and developers."
Ludmila Yamalova, Managing Partner of HPL Yamalova & Plewka JLT, a Dubai-based law firm, said: "Empowering the IOAs to become legal entities will mean they will have the power to sue and be sued in Dubai's court of law. They will be able to open bank accounts and enter into contracts. They have all rights to govern and manage their buildings and communities. And, generally, they will have all the powers and rights that a corporation would have."