Questions & Answers
Can a real estate agency hold a percentage of a property sale until transfer is done?
A real estate agency has signed an MOU stating that a 10% security deposit from the buyer and the seller will be kept in the real estate agency and will be released upon transferring the property.
The transfer of the property was blocked due to the court order.
According to my colleagues, the real estate agency is not a trustee and they are not allowed to have taken my security check in the first place, is this correct?
Dear Questioner,
Please note that the real estate brokerage firm does not necessarily act as a trustee solely, especially that there are trustees for real estate transactions who are authorized by the Dubai Land Department.
However, it is a very common practice as per the market standards that the real estate brokers keep the security checks.
Based on the standard MOU's, the security checks should be given by both parties and both kept with the real estate brokerage for the sole purpose which is guaranteeing the seriousness of the deal and to ensure that both parties adhere to the sale terms and make it easier to apply the penalties mentioned within on the breaching party in any transaction.
In your particular case, which is not very common, the court order has interrupted the transaction by holding the transfer of the ownership to the property which in this case a very unusual and unlikely scenario to happen.
I would imagine that the realtors would be in a safe position to keep holding the check until further advice from the court.
I would recommend you to interfere in the court case that caused the court order and request the court to give the order to the real estate brokerage to return your check.
And in this case, you and the brokerage firm are going to be on the safe side against any actions.
If you would require any such assistance to apply to the court decision please get in touch with me through the email for further assistance.
Ahmed Elnaggar
Hello,
As per your query, if the real estate agent is a broker under the RERA, then he may accept the cheque. If he is not registered, he can not accept it.
However, as the deal was cancelled by court order, it is ideally that the security deposit should be returned to both the parties. Moreover, the terms of the MOU should be considered accordingly.
Please call or email us.
Disclaimer- The above referred view is not a legal opinion, these opinions cannot be challenged or presented before any court of Law.
