People caught in real estate bind can get free legal help

Dubai: The Dubai Land Department (DLD) is introducing a free legal service to support people embroiled in real estate-related court cases to ensure that no one is prevented from seeking justice simply because they can't afford it.

The announcement on Monday follows a meeting at the DLD on Wednesday where senior officials met representatives of professional law firms to finalise details of the initiative.

The DLD agreed with the law firms to become part of a new Legal Care Group which will consist of volunteers who will bring together senior lawyers, professional firms and consultants to offer free legal assistance. This assistance will then be open to residents who have genuine property issues.

Instead of going through the property court which has a backlog of cases, many people in the past have sought to forge investor groups to try and strengthen their stand against unscrupulous developers.

"We at Rera [Dubai's Real Estate Regulatory Authority] have been helping and protecting investors' [real estate] rights and it's a great move to see the [sector] taking some social responsibility... and from what we see, most of the cases are misunderstandings, not disputes. Once the two parties are set together and start communicating they will solve problems and reach a [conclusion]," Marwan Bin Galita, chief executive of Rera, told Gulf News.

Mohammad Sultan Thani, assistant director-general of the DLD, said: "The objective of this initiative is not merely to meet a need but to ensure fairness and justice is available to anyone who might have a concern which involves property, no matter their circumstances."

Matthew Green, head of research and consultancy firm CB Richard Ellis, said: "This announcement will go some way to renewing faith in the system as well as providing confidence to individual investors facing financial difficulties in their disputes against developers."