Skycourts investors cry foul over 37% unexplained hike in back-dated service fee Rera says charges are certified, but calls for annual general meeting By emirates24/7 Published Monday, November 18, 2013 Homeowners in Skycourts, a mega residential project in Dubailand, have raised concerns over the more than 37 per cent hike in service charges for the past two years, which includes a 138 per cent hike in common services category. Over 90 residents have filed complaints with Real Estate Regulatory Agency (Rera), the regulatory arm of Dubai Land Department, seeking response to disallow the increase in charges. The 37 per cent increase, residents say, is backdated from last year. It for the financial year 2012-13 and 2013-2014 respectively, compared to the inaugural year 2011-12. When Emirates 24|7 raised the issue with Rera, the agency confirmed the charges submitted by the developer had been certified, citing increase as a result of rising electricity, water and sewage bills. Owners contend that the steep 138 per cent common services charge increase is not due to Dewa, but in cooling charges levied by Alpha Utilities. Rera has called on owners to pay the required fees as per the applicable law, adding it prefers gatherings (read: annual general meeting) to elect owners associations within the project. Homeowners, however, said there has been no annual general meeting held to approve the increase of the past two years and no accounts have been submitted for review to homeowners for the past three years. Skycourts Interim Owners Association (IOA) has issued notices to pay the new service charges with offenders being warned of late penalty fees of one per cent per month, denial of services such as access cards and issuance of no-objection certificate for transfer of unit and the case being forwarded to a debt collection agency. In the notice, IOA says: “If the Skycourts IOA is unable to collect service charges for the community, there will be insufficient funds to maintain all service.”
Posted on: Mon, 18 Nov 2013 04:09:11 +0000
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