Any DAMAC Lake View Owners out there?

[amidhadli]

It seems like all the developers are playing a game.

My personal opinion is that if the charge is not mentioned in the contract then you shouldn't need to pay it before acquiring your contracted apartment. However there have been regulatory changes and these could easily have been brought to our attention in line with our contracts under force majeure. Once the developer knew about new statutory payments, requirements for parking spaces etc that were beyond their control, they could easily have declared this and we wouldn't be grumbling against the developer rather the authority that was introducing such charges. I really see no reason why developers couldn't do this.

It strikes me that the developers are basically sneaking as many extra charges as they can get away with assuming that most people are not familiar with UAE legal processes and would rather not get entangled in a court case.

hi any idean when handover will be for lake view i thought around 15th jan have not heard anything yet

 

[Johan]

I ve been inside the building and was VERY DISSAPOINTED - the finishes are sh.. the windows are sh... go and look for yourself and then you decide if DAMAC develops luxuary....shame

 

[financier888]

Strata Law & common fee's

DAMAC will make you believe you have to accept their terms for any contract but ignore that and ideally get professional advice.

A lot depends on whether you are buying direct from DAMAC or are buying from an existing owner. If direct from DAMAC then they can set the terms but in the current market you really ought to dictate the terms you want. If from someone else then you are effectively buying their contract so you shouldn't have to accept any different terms from DAMAC although they will try.

The maintenance fees are all over the place - I've seen 3 different maxima per sq.ft. and therefore they should stick to the lowest maximum which seems to be 8. It is clearly not right for some units to be making a far greater proportional contribution to a common budget. That appears to be why they are now wriggling to get out of the maintenance obligation. They seem to have set it up originally in such a way that made it almost impossible for owners to get rid of them for the first 3 years but now it looks expensive for them they are trying to escape but are being extremely devious about it.

Car parking is also less than honorable. Fair enough that they could charge more now for additional space when the 45000 was originally described as a discounted price. However the market has gone down significantly. If I hadn't already booked my spot I would now choose not to pay for anything. The municipal code requires them to supply a parking space with every unit so you could just hold out and see what happens. There is always the metro and from what I've seen elsewhere, there are likely to be many free spaces that never get used. However when JLT really gets going in a few years time, the parking spaces will become like gold-dust.

Under the new strata law - the owners can form an asscoiation and then higher another property management firm - they should get on with this forthwith! As it relates to the issues of conflicting sq footage and prorata shares of common areas - check your title... (if you been issued it) - The titile will have the actual numbers connected thereto...

good luck

 

[Johan]

I ve been inside the building and was VERY DISSAPOINTED - the finishes are sh.. the windows are sh... go and look for yourself and then you decide if DAMAC develops luxuary....shame

its all bullocks, DAMAC is screwing the whole world- and they got away with it, up to now. They are ruthless, if not lets allow them to prove it, and you know that talk is cheap but money buys...They, in my opinion, are bankrupt, if I am wrong they can proof it, but no more finished projects from DAMAC, I will put my head on a block...its all bull****...

 

[zal_kindi]

After the endless "handover" dates which we have been given to us by DAMAC, the latest was 15th Jan 2009 or was it ???? I have heard so much B form them that I can't keep up.

I called their CRM (yes they have one ) yesterday and guess what, the handover is end of Feb, or was it March ? I really don't remember.

The only information I got was that they are sending handover letters out this week for the final settlement. Even that remains to be seen. Cna we believe them anymore? Not sure if they can afford the postage.

For those of you who, like me, are unfortunate enough to have been fooled by DAMAC and have ""Invested"" with them, please beware and very careful of what the letter will contain.

The lady I spoke to gave me the impression that they intend to ask for the full final installment and that they will issue compensation cheques for the delays rather than deducting them from the final installment! Now why would they do that! With DAMAC's reputation and track record, I would not trust them or their cheques. I hope this turns out not to be the case.

I am not sure how they will calculate the delay compensation but you can be sure that they'll try shaft everyone.

I really really hope that DAMAC end up embarrassing all of us critics and skeptics by taking full responsibility for the loss they have caused us all in lost interest and lost rental and sales opportunities. Will they? I very much doubt it but would love to be proven wrong.

I have a bad feeling that this is going to be messy.

I think we need to be prepared for the worst and consider our options (collectively) carefully.

 

[revolutionary]

I ve been inside the building and was VERY DISSAPOINTED - the finishes are sh.. the windows are sh... go and look for yourself and then you decide if DAMAC develops luxuary....shame

Totally agree and they haven't done anything to justify the completion certificate. It is a real mess right now.

I will be demanding to see the completion certificate so I can report the incompetent official who gave it. I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't the same incompetent fool that declared the structure complete before the last 4 floors were constructed. There is no way this building is safe right now. The lifts don't work and major glazing panels are hanging on in a temporarily fixed state.

Be aware that I expect DAMAC to try to charge any final clean-up and paint job to the maintenance budget. We will need to get the owners' association active very quick to stop DAMAC blowing our money on their own 'services'. I hope there are no more naive owners out there that have any faith left in DAMAC.

 

[zal_kindi]

Totally agree and they haven't done anything to justify the completion certificate. It is a real mess right now.

I will be demanding to see the completion certificate so I can report the incompetent official who gave it. I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't the same incompetent fool that declared the structure complete before the last 4 floors were constructed. There is no way this building is safe right now. The lifts don't work and major glazing panels are hanging on in a temporarily fixed state.

Be aware that I expect DAMAC to try to charge any final clean-up and paint job to the maintenance budget. We will need to get the owners' association active very quick to stop DAMAC blowing our money on their own 'services'. I hope there are no more naive owners out there that have any faith left in DAMAC.

So what's your impression of how this is going to end? Are we ever going to get keys? What will the service charges be and who decides? Who can we resort to?

I fear that we're in for more nasty surprises.

 

[Johan]

I worked for Damac in Germany and they suddenly closed our office even before we had an official launch, needless to say they did not pay us (my colleagues and I) as promised. Just empty promises and useless words. And they are so sneaky that they blame one another. We, together with the Authorities, will take legal action if they dont settle their bill with us very soon. So I doubt if they will play ball with u guys!

 

[revolutionary]

DAMAC need to be hit head on with the terms of contracts and the letter of the law. They will inevitably state a skewed version of both, or downright lie. Be prepared for the either/or letters where both choices see you agreeing to a change of the contractual terms in their favour. Those letters will also be worded such that ignoring them means you are agreeing with them.

Basically stick to your guns and complain to RERA if they don't comply with your contract or the law. The law now states that you can ask RERA to transfer the property title to your name if the developer is not keeping to their side of the contract.

I expect that DAMAC will declare completion and request the final payment. If you make that final payment then you will have no further bargaining chips and will be messed about. Note that the maintenance fees should only be paid to the owners' association and not to DAMAC. Also if buying a parking space, then the payment should be made to DMCC as they are the sellers and DAMAC was only an intermediary. You're on your own if you pay either to DAMAC and they fail to pass those on.

Good luck everyone!!

 

[Johan]

thats right, stick to your guns!!!

 

[amidhadli]

DAMAC need to be hit head on with the terms of contracts and the letter of the law. They will inevitably state a skewed version of both, or downright lie. Be prepared for the either/or letters where both choices see you agreeing to a change of the contractual terms in their favour. Those letters will also be worded such that ignoring them means you are agreeing with them.

Basically stick to your guns and complain to RERA if they don't comply with your contract or the law. The law now states that you can ask RERA to transfer the property title to your name if the developer is not keeping to their side of the contract.

I expect that DAMAC will declare completion and request the final payment. If you make that final payment then you will have no further bargaining chips and will be messed about. Note that the maintenance fees should only be paid to the owners' association and not to DAMAC. Also if buying a parking space, then the payment should be made to DMCC as they are the sellers and DAMAC was only an intermediary. You're on your own if you pay either to DAMAC and they fail to pass those on.

Good luck everyone!!

hi who do i pay the parking fees to who are dmcc and do you know what they are really charging as i dont trust damac nomore i am certainly not going to pay anything unless i have got my compensation taken off first as they will not pay us anything back we all know this company and the lies it tells

what do we do and who do we get in touch with when the letters come as rera are also a waste of time they never respond back toemails or answer their phones who will run the owners assocation i think it should be a responsible owner committie who does this and damac should have no say in this what do you guys think make some suggestions and are damac in financial crisis are they going under

 

[revolutionary]

The devil is in the detail when dealing with DAMAC.

Read your contract very carefully including the appendices. One appendix covers the owners' association. You also need to read the new laws available from the RERA web site. One gives details fo the rights of owners to form associations.

As DAMAC do not do 'standard' contracts and try to squeeze as much as possible from every investor, you cannot rely on what others say. If you haven't been studying their detailed terms then you probably have lost out already as they are very good at misleading and changing contracts to their favour.

Start reading and good luck!

 

[amidhadli]

Under the new strata law - the owners can form an asscoiation and then higher another property management firm - they should get on with this forthwith! As it relates to the issues of conflicting sq footage and prorata shares of common areas - check your title... (if you been issued it) - The titile will have the actual numbers connected thereto...

good luck

please help other owners i have had my final handover letter really shocked also spoke to my nephew who has also had letter about the unit now being bigger and we being charged an extra 73000 aed and i have been fined 18000 aed for what i dont know and also been charged 2% for unit and reg fees where i understood they pay 1% and we pay the other 1% and the final thing they want me to pay them in 14 days or they will terminate my contract
no mention about the compensation stated in my contract that has to be paid to me because of delay and i should be charging them penalties for being late now we need to get a solicitor involved or at least a man in charge in rera as i am not paying anything unless they take of my compensation we all need to make a stand to this how does anyone else feel please let me know

 

[revolutionary]

please help other owners i have had my final handover letter really shocked also spoke to my nephew who has also had letter about the unit now being bigger and we being charged an extra 73000 aed and i have been fined 18000 aed for what i dont know and also been charged 2% for unit and reg fees where i understood they pay 1% and we pay the other 1% and the final thing they want me to pay them in 14 days or they will terminate my contract
no mention about the compensation stated in my contract that has to be paid to me because of delay and i should be charging them penalties for being late now we need to get a solicitor involved or at least a man in charge in rera as i am not paying anything unless they take of my compensation we all need to make a stand to this how does anyone else feel please let me know

Time to read your contract, challenge them on facts and read up on the new laws. RERA won't be terminating your contract at this stage as you have the right to ask for all your money back anyway due top the delay. Don't panic and don't pay until you are happy - DAMAC are trying it on as normal but haven't a leg to stand on. All owners seem to have been given the same area increase which coincidentally just exceeds the contractual 3%. However the law has now changed and developers are not allowed to charge for extra area if it exists at all! There are lots of owners who are going to demand to see the actual dimensions taken by DAMAC in determining the area - perfectly reasonable request if they are claiming that the area has increased.

Many of the apartments are not ready for handover and the place is not ready for occupation as there are exterior building works going on still which means you can't walk outside.

Read every clause in your contract, list all the places where you feel they have broken the clause and put it in writing to them. Guaranteed they will have made 'mistakes' but always in their favour. And expect that they have used every possible interpretation of every clause to get the maximum money from you.

Ignore the threats as they haven't a leg to stand on.

 

[revolutionary]

Handover letters are full of errors and not even signed properly. Everyone should simply challenge DAMAC on specific details, ideally referencing your contract or the laws. Don't forget to mention clause 12 of law 13 - that's the one that stops them charging you for a larger area than was in your contract.

There are a lot of disgruntled owners out there but now we know we are all in the same situation with a disgraceful company, we can be united and refuse to make the final payment until DAMAC has clarified everything as per our contracts and the law.

If anyone makes a payment now, all you can expect is a further demand for additional payments. You won't get your keys even if you pay the ridiculous amount they are requesting right now. Don't forget you still have an obligation to pay for parking, maintenance fees, maintenance fee deposit, service connection fees, etc etc and any new ones that DAMAC's innovation team come up with. Would you expect that the keys to your front door came with your apartment......think again......Lake Terrace owners had to pay another fee to get those.

 

[amidhadli]

I ve been inside the building and was VERY DISSAPOINTED - the finishes are sh.. the windows are sh... go and look for yourself and then you decide if DAMAC develops luxuary....shame

have you had final clearance letter mine is unbelivable has anyone else received any lots of extra money they asking for

 

[moonnic]

Attention to everybody!!!
We are 27 on another forum with the same problems, we are creating a group of owners to act legally against damac and sending a letter also to rera to check what the hell is damac doing.
Let's join all together to kick jaguars and private jets of mr roddich!!

 

[amidhadli]

Attention to everybody!!!
We are 27 on another forum with the same problems, we are creating a group of owners to act legally against damac and sending a letter also to rera to check what the hell is damac doing.
Let's join all together to kick jaguars and private jets of mr roddich!!

hi count me in my personal email [email protected] what is the other forum as we should publicise this as much as we can

 

[Toofif]

Dear all,

There is another thread on the following forum with lots of info/views from other disgruntled owners in Lake View.

Please come and register there - we need as many people as possible to join together.

I can't post the URL here but if you type the following into Google, the site is listed:

skyscraper city lake view

 

[DavidBrook]

Thanks Toofif
If you Google the following words:

skyscrapercity lake view completed

you will get straight to our forum. Please come and join us.....

I think we are more than 30 now and numbers increasing daily.
All very angry with DAMAC for Extortion and Breach of Contract and all writing/e-mailing/phoning DAMAC and refusing to pay until satisfied that DAMAC stop their bullying tactics and meet ALL their Contractual Obligations WITHIN the LAW including the promised compensation for long delays etc,etc,

Did any one go to view their 'Luxury' kitchen and bathroom fittings?
Whatever happened to that 'Stunning' Infinity Swimming Pool?

Please join us.......

THERE IS STRENGTH IN NUMBERS

WE WILL WIN !!!