Property in Dubai: Deals and Developer Disputes — LaWEra Group

Property in Dubai: the Deal and the Dispute

In Dubai the buyer pays before the keys — with off-plan, sometimes years before. So our work has two halves: check and close the deal so that there is nothing to argue about later, and run the dispute when the deal was done without us.

Who comes to us

• A buyer who has chosen an off-plan unit, is being pushed for a deposit, and has a sixty-page contract in front of him that nobody has read.
• An owner whose handover is one, two or three years late and who has just been offered an "addendum" that waives all claims.
• An investor who paid a broker a "reservation fee" for a unit that turned out to be something else — or nothing at all.
• A seller who needs a developer NOC, a power of attorney and a straight answer on who pays which fee.
• A buyer looking at a property from AED 2 million who wants to know whether it really carries a 10-year Golden Visa, and what to verify before signing.
• A family whose relative has died with a Dubai apartment in his sole name and no idea where to begin.

How the transaction works: buying property in Dubai as a foreigner. What it really costs: all the costs of buying.

What we do, step by step

Before the deal

1. Check the developer and the project: project registration, the escrow account under Dubai Law No. 8 of 2007, construction status, the developer's record on earlier handovers. Method: checking a developer.
2. Read the contract before you sign: completion date and what counts as breach, the grace period, the penalty, termination rights, where the payments go. We negotiate what can be negotiated.
3. Cost it: the 4 % DLD transfer fee, the registration trustee, fixed fees, agent commission, developer NOC, bank costs if there is a mortgage.
4. Handle registration: Oqood for off-plan, transfer of title at the DLD for ready property, the mortgage if there is one.

When there is already a dispute

1. Assemble the file: contract, escrow payments, correspondence, notices of delay. Without it there is nothing to take to the developer or to court.
2. Formal claim to the developer or the broker. A large share of cases ends here — a developer who sees a credible court risk usually prefers to settle. The three routes to a refund: getting your money back on off-plan.
3. Complaint to RERA where the breach is regulatory: payments outside escrow, an unregistered project, a cancelled project. Procedure: filing a RERA complaint.
4. Dubai court if settlement fails: termination, refund of what was paid, penalty for delay. What is realistically recoverable: completion dates and penalties.
5. Enforcement. A judgment and the money are separate stages; we run both.

What you get

• Before the deal: a written opinion on the unit and the contract — what was checked, which risks remain, what we recommend changing.
• At the deal: registered title — the title deed or the Oqood entry in your name — and a fee calculation to the dirham.
• In a dispute: a claim the developer takes seriously, a strategy with an honest assessment of prospects, and then a termination agreement, a RERA decision or a judgment, and the work to enforce it.

What else we handle in property

• Checking the property and the developer before the deal, reviewing the sale and purchase agreement — off-plan above all — and registering title with the Dubai Land Department (DLD).
• Landlord and tenant disputes at the Dubai Rental Disputes Center (RDC). See renting and RDC disputes.
• Handover delays, termination and late-delivery compensation from developers — see developer disputes.
• Wills covering UAE property, registered with the DIFC Courts or the Dubai Courts — see wills and inheritance and how to make a will.
• Golden Visa through property — see visas and residency.

Fees are set case by case: they depend on how complex the matter is and how many of our lawyers it needs. We quote once we have seen the documents.

What we do and what stays with you

We check, draft, negotiate and represent you before RERA and the courts. You provide the documents and the payments: every receipt, all correspondence with the developer and the broker, a power of attorney for your representative, and your presence in the UAE where the procedure requires it — a Golden Visa application, for example, is filed in person. The outcome of a dispute is decided by the contract, the evidence and the court, not by what we would like. We give you our view of the prospects at the first meeting, and if they are weak we say so.

When we say no, or the case has no prospects

• The delay is within the grace period the contract allows. There is no claim, only waiting.
• The market fell, the exchange rate moved, your plans changed. None of that is a ground for termination, and if the buyer is in breach the developer may lawfully retain part of what was paid.
• Money went to a broker in cash with no receipt and no messages. The case may exist, but it starts with rebuilding the evidence, and we tell you at once how realistic that is. Common schemes: broker fraud.
• The client wants to punish the developer rather than recover money. A Dubai court decides a financial dispute; it is not the place for the rest.

How to start

The first consultation is free. Message us on WhatsApp or Telegram at +971 58 600 98 87 and send the contract and payment records; we read them before the call so you do not have to retell them. If the deal is still ahead, a link to the listing and the developer's name is enough. You can also work through your situation on the home page.

⚠️ This describes a service, not legal advice. UAE law changes, and procedures differ between emirates. We review each situation individually.