Pay or leave: Tenants face the brunt

 Dubai:  Nearly 40 families facing eviction from Discovery Gardens after being ripped off by a rogue real estate company are now allegedly being asked to pay up an extra Dh22,500 each for the remaining nine months of their tenancy or leave. Tenants said landlord Meraas offered the deal last week asking them to pay an extra 50 per cent of the rent for the remaining nine months — Dh2,500 per month for a one-bedroom unit.

This brings the total annual rent to Dh72,500 (one-bedroom unit), they said. Tenants are divided on whether to pay or move out.

Meraas calculated the balance based on a Dh60,000 annual rent, tenants said. A Meraas official, however, said: "Nothing has been finalised."

"Not all tenants are ready to accept the deal. It's a terrible price to pay. It's too much," said Hussam Taha, an Arab resident. "But if this is the only solution, then it's up to individual tenants."

An Indian accountant who has already taken an advance of Dh45,000 from his employer as annual rent for his unit said, "It's an expensive lesson for us."

Taha Dawood, an Arab, said they will pursue the brokers for their part in this "mess". "The brokers haven't done their job well," he said. The residents' lawyer, Osama Aborayah, said they have filed a case against the agents for violating the code of ethics.

In July, tenants paid Dh45,000 each as annual rent for a one-bedroom unit and Dh5,000 each in deposit/commissions to three brokers who acted as go-between for Corporate Business Solutions (CBS), whose owners claimed to be the landlords. The CBS owners disappeared with tenants' money worth Dh2 million. Meraas said it originally leased the units to CBS for use as staff accommodation.