The Real Estate Regulatory Agency (Rera), the regulatory arm of the Dubai Land Department, has made it mandatory to get Jointly Owned Property Declarations (JOPDs) under the Strata Law approved and signed by lawyers prior to submission, experts told Emirates 24|7.
“The Land Department wants JOPDs to be produced by qualified and experienced lawyers to ensure that the declarations comply with the Jointly Owned Property Law, have been appropriately drafted and are a workable management tool for the owners going forward,” said Stephen Kelly, Legal Director, Real Estate, Clyde & Co.
Brent Baldwin, Associate, Hadef & Partners, said: “Rera will not register any owners association unless the JOPDs are signed by a lawyer. Earlier, the agency found many discrepancies with the documents submitted by the developers for setting of OAs, but with lawyers attesting documents they are certain they will be legally accurate.”
According to Kelly, law firms are negotiating with the Land Department for an acceptable “lawyer’s statement” and believes the matter will be resolved shortly.
Baldwin said their law firm was among the few that were closely working with Rera to finalise the guidelines for the declaration.
Rera had set an October 2010 deadline to complete all documentation process and register owners’ associations.
In August 2010, Graham Yeates, Head of Strata Management, Cluttons had told this website that they estimate there would be about 2,000 owners’ associations in Dubai.
However, Rera CEO Marwan bin Galitha said in January that 150 owners associations had been registered.