Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi Family, Civil and Administrative Court has ruled not to accept a lawsuit filed by a woman seeking Dh75,000 in compensation for material and moral damages arising from rental transactions with an employee of a real estate company, on the grounds that the lawsuit was filed by a person without standing.
The woman sued an employee of a real estate company and his wife, seeking compensation of Dh75,000 for material and moral damages that she said resulted from misleading representation, acting without legal capacity or authority, concealing a conflict of interest, and using the company's name, headquarters and official seal in the disputed transactions.
She also requested legal interest at a rate of 5 per cent per annum on the compensation amount, in addition to any other amounts that might be established through investigations or the exchange of documents.
According to the lawsuit, the plaintiff's deceased husband dealt with the defendant at a real estate company's offices, signing a lease agreement and making initial payments through him, believing him to be an authorised representative of the company.
The plaintiff stated that the defendant directed her husband to pay brokerage fees to his wife, who was later found to be the property owner, without disclosing the nature of their relationship. She also maintained that the defendant was neither licensed nor legally authorised to conduct the transaction and that the lease offer was not on the company's official letterhead.
She further argued that the lease offer document stated that the fees were due to the broker and not to the defendant's wife, and that the latter was not licensed or legally authorised and had concealed the true nature of the transaction and unlawfully seized the funds.
The plaintiff said that after her husband's death, she asked for the lease agreement to be transferred into her name, but the defendant refused. She added that a month after she vacated the property, he issued an unofficial inspection report alleging damage to the property.
The defendant submitted a memorandum requesting that the lawsuit be dismissed because it had been filed by a person without standing.
In its reasoning, the court noted that the plaintiff filed the lawsuit on the basis that she had been harmed by the defendant's actions, while the defendant argued that she lacked standing to bring the claim.
The court stated that the case file showed the plaintiff's admission that the lease agreement and related transactions had been concluded between the defendant and her deceased husband.
The court further noted that the case file did not contain the deceased husband's death certificate or an inheritance certificate showing whether the plaintiff was the sole heir or whether there were other heirs, and whether she was legally entitled to represent them.
The court concluded that the case file did not contain any evidence establishing the plaintiff's legal standing to bring the claim. It accepted the defendant's plea and ruled that the lawsuit was not admissible for lack of standing.
The court also ordered the plaintiff to pay the court fees and expenses.