Dubai: Finding a reasonably priced house in a good location was a cause for celebration for a Filipino family until they found out their apartment was leased to two other families.
"We saw an advertisement in May for a one-bedroom apartment in a villa and went to view the apartment the same day after contacting the real estate agent," Janet, a school administrator, said.
"We were asked to pay Dh40,000 for the apartment, but we asked the agent to lower the price, and he agreed to lease a studio apartment for Dh35,000, and asked us to give him a deposit on the spot," she said.
After paying Dh1,000, the agent said he will bring the contract to Janet and asked her to prepare a down payment.
Two families
"We never had a reason to suspect foul play because the agent had the keys of the villa and showed us a contract that he claimed was signed by the landlord," she said.
After e-mailing her passport copy, the agent brought a signed contract and collected the down payment of Dh5,000, which was part of the first instalment of the rent, and told them they could move in.
An unpleasant surprise was waiting for Janet and her husband at the villa, when she found out there were two other families who had rented the same apartment, and one of them even paid the rent in full, while the other paid Dh14,000.
"One of the families had keys but the other didn't, so we agreed to share the apartment with the family who had the keys," she said.
Two more men showed up later at the villa and claimed they had paid deposits for the same apartment, but had no keys.
"After we moved in with the other family, a man came over to tell us that he represents the landlord, and asked us to vacate the apartment because the owner has not authorised anyone to lease it on his behalf," Janet said.
From that point, the tenants kept receiving calls and visits from different people, while the person who leased the apartment disappeared, leaving all three families and two bachelors in the dark.
