Distortion of Dubai’s Real Estate Reputation with Fake Property Listings
The residents in Dubai are scammed with false property listings. Many real estate portals are banned from providing online services after users fall prey to fake property advertisements. To avoid any further inconvenience, the Real Estate Regulatory Authority of Dubai (RERA) has cracked down on several residential agencies operating online.
Around thirty property agencies are been taken down by RERA alongside the imposition of a Dh 50,000 fine on each agency. Some real estate companies are using old data and property photos to lure expats as revealed in the Khaleej Times Report.
RERA has announced to hold such companies accountable and urgent removal of fake property listings from the portals across social media. The urgency is required to ensure the effective removal of “multiple” ads of the alike projects.
Moreover, the regulatory authority has prepared a draft for firm directives for future breaches. However, they are ceasing new advertisements of properties at the moment until the complete removal of previously sold properties.
RERA now demands complete evidence from the real estate agents. This is significant in case the property is 8 months old while still valid in listing. This implies that the proven record of paperwork should be handed over to RERA to ensure the validation of the property listing.
RERA against False Listings
RERA imposed several restrictions to ensure transparency and safety within the city’s environment. For this purpose, various regulations have been established by the Dubai Land Department (DLD) to supervise advertisements.
Real estate companies are now obligated to comply with the recent terms and conditions, including the submission of authentic listings. Also, they are beholden to acquire an advertising permit before making the ad live.
Furthermore, the need of incorporating a QR code is also publicized among property dealers. Investors will be able to verify and determine, through a QR code, whether the listed property is original or fake. The regulatory authority of Dubai has asked real estate agencies to abide by property rules for smooth property dealing.
Obtaining “Form A” is Compulsory
Real Estate Regulatory Authority issues ‘Form A’ to validate the selling or advertisement of a specific property. This process tracks down whether the property is sold by the individual seller or developer.
However, RERA is only responsible and issues a very limited number of property forms. Whereas, the duty of ensuring the validation of property still falls on property sites.
As different property dealers offer variant offerings on the same properties; this confuses the buyer and the dealers as well. The situation gets worse when the property gets sold but other dealers still feature the ad. This happens because dealers assume that with their offered price on the same property, users will be lured into dealing.
Authentic Price
Dubai has been emerging as a global property hub, where thousands of investors are dying to dive into the market. However, the false or fake property listings might distort the market and Dubai’s Reputation in the real estate world.
Buyers will hesitate to invest in Dubai’s property market due to the consistent listings of fake or old properties. Hence, residents seek a strict policy against such actions.
