Property investors get money back

Property investors get money back

A full refund; no strings attached. Kipp’s excited for what this may mean for our property friends.

April 21, 2011 2:18 by Eva Fernandes

If you are frustrated property investors in Dubai please read this article. It will cheer you up and hopefully provide you with some much needed optimism. Yes we are talking about the momentous ruling by DIFC courts that ruled in favour of the Gaffneys—an Irish couple who won a Dh1.7 million refund on a Damac Properties unit that was not delivered on time.

The story goes all the way back in late 2004, when Noel and Lorna Gaffney bought apartment 602 in Tower B of Park Towers. They were initially promised their apartment in early 2008, which was later pushed to June 2009. Now, seven years on, construction is yet to be completed though the company promises to deliver the apartments later this year. Frustrating stuff. And no one feels it more than investors like Noel Gaffney, who said in a statement provided by his lawyers: “I feel I have been given false promises by their sales department and I know I am not alone in that regard. I am pleased to be able to get justice through the DIFC Courts.”

And justice, they did get. As per the ruling, the registrar of the DIFC Courts, signed an order requiring the refund of Dh1,781,009.01 to the couple within two weeks. Should Damac fail to cough up, they will be required to pay additional interest on the amount. Of course, the case was tried in the DIFC courts: regulated by a different set of laws than the rest of the emirate, but the verdict does set a precedent for similar cases in the free zone and Kipp is excited to see just where this will take the worried world of jaded investors.