Amlak agrees to waive charges for delayed period: Investors

Following the line of Dubai Bank, Amlak Finance, an Islamic mortgage company, has agreed to waive the additional rental payment for the period beyond “the expected date of delivery” for a project in Dubailand.

In an email sent to an investor on earlier this month, and seen by Emirates 24|7, Amlak said: “We are pleased to inform you that the additional rental payment will be calculated till official completion date as per the sales and purchase agreement and the permitted extension; ie December 31, 2009.”

The investor, on condition of anonymity, said: “Skycourts customers were sent a letter to take handover of their properties by April 15. We, around 50 people, sent letters to Amlak requesting them to waive the additional rental charges and reduce the profit rate in light of the Dubai Bank’s decision and the fatwa that we got from the Grand Mufti.”

The investor got a waiver of Dh28,000, which otherwise he had to pay in cash at the time of handover.

In an handover letter sent to another investor (name withheld on request), Amlak said it has been formally intimated by the developer (National Bonds) that the investor’s apartment will be completed for handover on March 15.

“You are accordingly requested to complete the handover formalities at Amlak… lease shall commence pursuant to the delivery of the property by the developer on April 15 (the delivery date) as per the terms of the relevant finance documents.”

The letter further goes on to say that the  investor will be responsible for any losses or damages suffered by Amlak and failure to respond to this letter and/or completion of the formalities the investor will obliged to fulfil his rental payment requirements from the delivery date along with the payments all other incidental charges (maintenance and service,  snagging, Dewa and other miscellaneous charges) that Amlak pays on his behalf in respect of the handover.

Amlak CEO Arif Alharmi could not be reached for comment. It is, however, not known whether Amlak will offer the waiver to investors in other projects which have been delayed beyond the expected date of completion.

This website reported on March 29 that Dubai Bank had agreed to waive or fully refund advanced rental charges for the period beyond the “expected date of delivery” of a project.

The Shariah-complaint bank said: “In those specific situations where the delivery of the property under construction has been delayed beyond the ‘expected date of delivery’ [ie the completion date plus the contractually defined extension period], advanced rental charges for the period following the ‘expected date of delivery’ will be waived and/or fully refunded for all eligible customers.”

In 2009, Amlak adopted a construction-linked payment planas against its earlier policy of paying developers according to payment schedules as per sales and purchase agreements.

"The move will help safeguard customer interests and reduce their financial burden. Our overall liability will not reduce by switching over to construction-linked payment plan, it might just get delayed," Alharmi had said.

The Dh1.6 billion Skycourts development has over 2,800 apartments across six towers. Service charges for project has been set at Dh7.9 per square feet, while MaceMacro Property Consultancy will provide facilities management.

Real Estate Regulatory Agency CEO Marwan bin Galitha has said that work is continuing on 220 projects with 114 projects being registered with Tayseer. 

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