Jul – Update – Termination Agreement

Finally closed one chapter. Got my PDC’s back. My direct communication with Sweethomes came to a complete halt.

The law firm kept a more unemotional tone through the whole thing and brought things to a close. They collected the Post Dated Cheques, and had the termination agreement signed. Of course, while these discussions were underway, Sweethomes presented two more cheques twice – an old uncleared one for the second time, and a new one. Duh!

Crooks or Clowns – I can’t tell?

Here’s what I lost so far:
Forfeited Payments -175,000 AED
Legal Fees – 21,000 AED (not counting at least 7 visits to SH Homes Office, phone calls, headaches)
Courier, GPA etc – 1,000 AED
===================================
197,000 AED or US$53,600
===================================

I have to wait until Dec 2010 at the earliest to get AED 175,000 back (50% of total paid). Something tells me that it will involve another lawyer and more chasing – unless Sweethomes has a miraculous change in their corporate culture.

Very very painful, but not to have to deal with their unscrupulous practices, an absent regulator & system, near impossible court system and finally the stupid laws around post dated cheques is Priceless.

ITV – Homes from Hell

I am taking the liberty of copying and pasting a message from another Forum. This one is from a UK producer that is looking for stories from Dubai. My experience was a few kilometers over, across in Ajman. The title very aptly describes our experience in the desert.

Write to them if you feel you have something to contribute and could benefit from some attention.

—————Posted @ Skyscraper City – July 1st———————–

Dear all,

The next series of ITV’s Homes From Hell is looking for stories from Dubai.

Did you have to wait years for your off-plan apartment to be finished? Were you stung by rising development costs and hidden fees and charges? Was your finished apartment far from the luxury build you paid for? Did your developer disappear when you discovered the property you bought was to be built on land the developer didn’t even own?

If any of this sounds familiar and you have a story you would like the journalists at Homes From Hell to investigate then please get in touch at victoria.thake@itv.com or on 0207 157 4276.

Many thanks,
Victoria Thake
Assistant Producer, New Homes From Hell

June 09 – Ajman Uptown / Sweethomes – Oman

Have a look at the attached blog -

I think this blog captures the crap we’ve been subjected to – specifically (see pdf file or link at bottom):
Muscat Confidential_ Omani papers continue to print any PR crap they are sent

” Basic story: Sweet Homes apparently advertise a deal based on a 10% deposit, regular payments until 50% paid, followed by 25% on completion and a further 25% after that. It seems Sweet Homes asks for post-dated cheques from ‘investors’ who purchase, and then proceed to cash them, because the contract is in reality based on a pre-defined project time schedule and is not related to actual physical construction milestones, simply against a promise to finalise contruction.”

http://muscatconfidential.blogspot.com/2008/12/omani-papers-continue-to-print-any-pr.html

June 09 – Ajman Facts – “It is about trust……….one commodity in short supply”

Have a look at the article from The National below. Printed on May 4th, 09. Scary.
- Thousands of property buyers invested in more than 900 other towers but most of them are just dusty plots or marks on a map.
- “More than 90 per cent of clients have stopped paying in Ajman,” says Mohammed al Zarah, the vice president of Great Properties, a broker selling Ajman real estate.
- “I believe that not less than 30 per cent of the projects will be cancelled in Emirates Road and I am sure that more than 60 per cent will be put on hold.” (If 30% are cancelled, and a further 60% on hold – or likely terminal hold… that means only 10% stands a chance of getting built).
- “In Ajman there is no big developer, only master developers,” Mr al Zarah says. “They are often individual investors who own one or two towers. They only had a few millions in cash to pay up front and were dependent on investors’ money to finance the projects.”
- Other less scrupulous developers have used buyers’ money for other deals and have no money left to build. Some have been imprisoned for allegedly bounced cheques as they were unable to pay for their land plots, while others have fled the country.
- “I am in the market. I know some of the developers who received money but don’t know if they are going to stay in this country or not,” Mr al Zarah says. “What they have got in their accounts, many have already spent it.”
- Omar Bissar, the legal adviser of dozens of developers in the Northern Emirates, confirms that some have left the country. “I know personally four developers who have taken the money and fled,” he says.
- Serious developers say they are suffering from a bad image caused by a few rotten apples. (This statement should be flipped – a few serious developers have been give a bad image by a lot of rotten apples).
- It is not about prices now, it is about trust.”…… along the Emirates Road, that is one commodity in short supply.

Ironically, the developer/project I am having trouble with is ranked 2nd farthest along……
URL – http://www.thenational.ae/article/20090504/BUSINESS/705049942/1005

Or see PDF file;
Coming to terms with a downturn – The National Newspaper

Nov 2007 – Deceptive Releases

The attached are releases from Gulf News & Khaleej Times.  If any one out there has one of the myriad advertisements that the developer – Sweethomes – ran, appreciate a copy.

These releases are dated Nov 2007.  From August when we signed up for the property, we just sat around and waited…and waited.  No ground breaking whatsover, no Sale Purchase agreement, nothing other than another payment being due.

Lesson Learnt for other buyers in the UAE - stay away from offplan, but if you are buying, first ask for a copy of the Sale Purchase Agreement & Reservation agreement.  The developers there claim that the buyer has to pay close to 20% before they will release the Sale Purchase agreement.  Nonsense.  One of the reasons for the delayed release is that these rogue developers keep re-writing the Sale Purchase agreement to protect their interests.  Early buyers may have one version, subsequent buyers yet another and so on.

Here are releases from Gulf News & Khaleej Times.

Gulf News ad

KT-release