Cairo: A Saudi court in the port city of Jeddah has ordered a local bank to pay back SR1.9 million to a Saudi man after he discovered defects in a villa he had earlier bought from the bank.
The man, identified by his first name as Mubarak, had paid the full price of the villa in instalments, but later found out that the villa located in the northern part of Jeddah is unfit for inhabitation due to gross engineering faults, Okaz newspaper reported.
They included cracks in the walls and caved-in ceilings. An engineering report recommended an immediate removal of the villa.
Disappointed, the buyer went to the court, which annulled the bank-owner contract, ordered the bank to return the money earlier paid by the man estimated at SR1.9 million and take back the villa.
Challenging the lawsuit, a bank representative contended that the man bought the villa years ago, the buyer acknowledged he had inspected it before concluding the financing contract with the bank and the building was in a good and safe condition.
The claimant encountered that there were construction faults in building and that they were so hidden that inspection did not expose them.
Before delivering its ruling, the court had delegated an engineering expert to check the status of the building.
The expert’s findings were that the building had grave construction faults and recommended its evacuation and demolition.
The court also ordered the bank to pay SR7,000 in fees to the expert.
The verdict was later approved by an appeals court, making it final and its implementation obligatory.
The court also told all government institutions to enforce the ruling by all legal means “even if the need arises for police force,” the report said.
