Do not over-pay registration fees

Buyers must get in writing the various fees they need to pay to avoid any conflict at the time of taking possession of the property. And they must insist on paying Land Department fees directly to the department, says a legal expert.

“The Land Department registration fees should be paid directly to the Land Department. If the developer insists otherwise, the issue should then be raised with the department. More importantly, it is of paramount importance to request a detailed and complete list of all of the fees in writing so as to avoid any further surprises,” says Ludmila Yamalova, Managing Partner of HPL Yamalova & Plewka JLT.

A  number of investors complained to this website that they were being overcharged by their developers particularly when making Dewa or chiller connection payment.

The developer were asking the buyers to write cheques in favour of the developer and not the service providers.

Buyers can check the Land Department charges by logging on to their website.

However, if the fees have been disclosed or mentioned in the sales and purchase agreement, the buyer is most likely required to fulfill his obligation.

In most cases, investors have signed the sales contract blindly with contracts making the buyer liable to pay the entire two per cent of the sales registration fee.

“However, if some of the fees had been initially disclosed, it may be more difficult to argue now as to their inappropriateness. That being said, there is an argument to be made that, even in those circumstances, such fees should either be waived all together or heavily discounted to account for the gross delay in the delivery or poor quality of the property,” says Yamalova.

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