Dubai: Emaar has lashed out at defaulting property owners saying they are bound to pay their community fees on time.
Last week, the developer put up the lists of defaulters on notice boards in The Springs, Meadows, The Lakes, Hattan and Arabian Ranches.
For a change, instead of the names of defaulters, the list carried their villa and street numbers. “Every homeowner has a duty to contribute to the management and maintenance of the common areas in the community by paying their community service fees on time,” Emaar said in an e-mail statement to XPRESS.
It said despite several reminders, owners continue to default, thereby increasing the financial burden on their community. In Lakes and Hattan, 21 owners have defaulted since 2010. “We kindly request owners of these villas to settle their community service fees for 2010 / 2011 at the earliest. Non-payment of fees affects neighbours and the community,” the Emaar notice read.
“The lists have been put up after all possible efforts to contact the home-owners. The intention is to undertake seamless service-related activities to promote community welfare,” said Emaar.
Roberto Kauffmann, Chairman of the Lakes Owners Association Interim Board, said: “We aim to be the best-managed community in Dubai, and naturally every owner needs to pay the agreed fees on time to maintain our standards. There can be no excuse. We fully support Emaar going after owners who have not paid their service fee in full.”
The current service fees for The Lakes is Dh2.89 per square foot per annum.
Check before rent
Emaar said tenants should check if the service fees of the unit they are proposing to live in has been paid or not.
An Emirati who owes around Dh50,000 in service fee said he has asked Emaar for a discount. “The service fee does not match the services offered to us,” said the 48-year-old who lives in a 3,500 sq ft three-bedroom villa in The Lakes.
An Iranian tenant of Hattan, The Lakes, said his landlord has not cleared the dues as he was abroad for a major surgery.
