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Dubai ... foreign ownership in some areas illegal.

Non-freehold property only for UAE, GCC nationals

DUBAI, October 4, 2014

The ownership of property in non-free holding areas in Dubai is limited to only UAE and GCC nationals, said a report citing a Dubai Court of Cassation ruling.

The court stressed this after rejecting an appeal of a Pakistani family that had bought a plot and then registered it in the name of an Emirati in circumvention of the law, reported the Emirates24|7.

The court confirmed the new principle is based on the real estate registration system in the emirate which provided for in Act No. 7 of 2006, the report stated.

In its appeal, the family said they have significant investments in the UAE and bought this plot in return of Dh900,000 ($244,986).

They said since there were laws prohibiting foreign ownership they had agreed with an Emirati to register it with the Dubai Land Department in a bid to circumvent the law.

They added that the Emirati citizen who was a friend of theirs (the Pakistani family) had given a written acknowledgement that the plot belonged to the Pakistani family.

Unfortunately, the Emirati friend passed away and his heirs got into a dispute with the Pakistani family over the piece of land, the report added.

The Court of first instance, where the Pakistani family first approached, dismissed the lawsuit and the plaintiffs appealed the verdict before the Court of appeal, which upheld the judgment of the Court of firstinstance.

The plaintiffs then appealed to the Court of Cassation, which issued this landmark verdict based on the articles no 7,9,22,24 of the law 7 of 2006 of the real estate registry in Dubai.




Tags: UAE | property | GCC | freehold |

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