ASK THE LAW

Ask the law: Developer delays property delivery, seeks agreement amendment

Legal rights of buyer regarding late delivery, amendment requests, installments

Last updated: February 01, 2024 | 10:24

Mohammad Ebrahim Al Shaiba, Special to Gulf News

2 MIN READ

For illustrative purposes only. Navigating property purchase challenges is a delicate journey. Know your rights as a buyer.

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Question:

Four 4 years ago, I purchased a property from one of the developers, and according to the purchase contract, delivery is within two years. Currently, the developer is two years late, and I paid about 70 per cent. My question is that the developer is currently asking me to amend the property purchase agreement and wants to increase the project delivery period by two years.

Am I obligated to amend the property purchase agreement? I do not want to amend the property purchase agreement. Also, do I have the legal right to refrain from paying the installment requested by the developer? Do I have the legal right to file a lawsuit to cancel the property purchase agreement and demand compensation? Please advise.

Answer:

I would advise the following:

According to Articles 246, 267 & 272 of the Civil Transactions Law: “The contract shall be implemented, according to the provisions contained therein and in a manner consistent with the requirements of good faith”; and “If a contract is valid and binding, none of the contracting parties may revoke, modify or rescind it except by mutual consent, order of the court or a law provision”.

“In bilateral contracts, if one of the parties does not perform his contractual obligations, the other party, may, after serving a formal notification to the debtor, demand the performance of the contract or its termination. The judge may order the debtor immediate performance of the contract or grant him specified additional time, as he may order termination with damages, in any case, if deemed justified”.

Based on all the above, you are not obliged to amend the purchase agreement and it seems that the developer is too delayed and not performing his obligations, which gives you the right to stop paying the installments.

But it is better to check your installment plan before stopping payment, especially if the installments are accompanied with the completion date, then your reasons to stop paying will be strong.

In all cases, you have the right to file a lawsuit to cancel the purchase agreement and request for compensation. The delay in implementing the contract, which gives the right to one of the contracting parties to request termination of the sales agreement or request compensation, depends on the jurisdiction of the trial court according to the situation and documents submitted in the lawsuit.