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Green Community: 300% Fee Hike Anger

Posted on June 18, 2007. Filed under: DUBAI REAL ESTATE, GREEN COMMUNITY |

Emaar warns against short-term rentals

The undisturbed quiet amid the lush landscape at the posh Green Community belies a brewing social volcano.

Residents are fuming and frustrated over the increase in service and maintenance fees, in some cases a rise of up to 300 per cent.

The actual values for 2005, 2006 and 2007 have remained relatively the same. What has increased is the tenants’ contribution to the actual costs. Company statement

Many of the owners of the 667 units – a mix of apartments, townhouses and villas within the area known as Dubai Inves-tments Park – have paid the fees out of fear of litigation. But they accused the developers of employing “bullying tactics”.

The developers, Properties Investment (PI), said the agitators are a noisy minority as only nine units out of the 667 have yet to pay the higher fees, due since January 1, 2007.

In a meeting with XPRESS following last week’s story describing it as a “virtual Shangri-La” where residents were willing to pay the high cost of maintenance, about 35 residents confirmed they had indeed paid the fees.

But most also said they had signed a survey and were willing to petition for authorities’ intervention to curb the “unreasonable” increases.

One young couple told XPRESS they couldn’t afford the higher maintenance fee and fear losing the property. They said PI managers advised them to sell the property.

“We are doing a survey among residents and our directory includes about 380 homeowners. Preliminary results suggest no one is happy paying up to 300 per cent more in service fees without a satisfactory explanation,” said M. A., a Green Community resident for two years.

Residents had been embroiled in a long-drawn battle with developers over fees. The homeowners suffered a setback when their case was thrown out by the Rent Committee. Moreover, developers do not recognise their “democratically-elected” committee, said M.A.

In a statement, PI managers said they welcomed the introduction of an “informal residents committee” and have issued letters requesting residents to nominate candidates. But the nominations were not supported by 100 per cent of the community, and PI has a contractual obligation to each and every tenant, an official said.

“Therefore, unless the decision was unanimous, it was impossible to manage as the remaining tenants wanted individual status,” said the statement.

Now, residents are digging in for the long haul, keenly awaiting the passage of a new Condominium Law and Owners Association Law, which would regulate relations between property owners and developers.

“If we are serious about our rights as customers, we have to commit to a long-term series of actions,” a resident wrote in the May issue of the community newsletter, referring to the two-year fight waged by residents at The Meadows and the Arabian Ranches with their developers.

The PI managers denied the residents’ accusations.
Although the property was sold on a leasehold basis in the early 2000s, when a law designating Dubai’s freehold areas was not yet in place, the PI still calls the residents “tenants”.

“The service charge at the Green Community did not go up by the percentages given,” said a company statement to XPRESS.

“The actual values for 2005, 2006 and 2007 have remained relatively the same. What has increased is the tenants’ contribution to the actual costs.”

PI managers said they merely asked residents to cover 76 per cent of the actual costs this year.

“In 2005 and 2006, PI collected back from its tenants only 38 per cent and 39 per cent, respectively, of the actual costs that it incurred in maintaining and managing the Green Community. Contractually, the PI could request 100 per cent, but chose not to,” it added.

XPRESS received a barrage of angry letters following the publication of last week’s “praise release”.

The bone of contention is the Dh9.14 million annual cost of district cooling, a centralised system where air-conditioning is piped to residential and common areas.

Residents say it is too much, but the developers said they had been subsidising the cost of maintaining the area.

“From the very beginning, every single one of us was told that district cooling is a much cheaper option than conventional cooling,” Jeri, a resident for two years, told XPRESS.

“But what we pay now is not only higher than conventional air-conditioning, but higher than district cooling industry norms.”

Residents also showed calculations based on studies showing Emicool, a sister company of the PI, was overcharging them by at least Dh1.64 million.

“This is a clear case of conflict of interest, since the cooling company is partly owned by Union Properties, which also owns part of the developers of the Green Community. Even the company that cleans our windows is part of the same clique,” said another resident.

Most of the residents asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution.

They said the developers have already dragged Stephen Halligan, the residents’ committee chairman, to the authorities after he allegedly organised an “illegal” meeting where he was accused of making “vitriolic and libellous” statements against PI’s managers.

Senior managers at PI told XPRESS they met many residents several times and responded directly and in person to the many queries that were raised.

“We introduced an open forum via the Green Community website. To date, we have responded to more than 300 questions raised,” a senior official of Union Properties said.

“Emicool charges were charged to PI and billed to residents at the same amount charged. Residents have benefited from the economy of scale.”

Changing the law

The Condominium Law is expected to focus on the relationship between investors and developers, clarifying arrangements for maintenance, utilities and services. It is now in the pipeline and will be out “soon”, according to the Dubai Lands Department.

The Owners Association Law, also expected this year, will regulate the formation of an elected committee to represent property owners.

your comments

Maintenance is an issue. Just go to the shop entrance by the sun glasses shop car park and see and smell what looks like sewerage or something which runs freely there every night.
Anonymous, UAE

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No, we are not happy at all about the higher maintenance and service charge fees at the Green Community this year.
Anonymous, UAE

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The management state that the cost of running the Green Community is Dh24 million per year for 2005, 2006 and 2007. How can this be possible when for the whole of 2005, the residential area was not fully occupied and the commercial area was not there. Also the contractor’s guarantees were still in place and therefore any replacements or repairs were carried out by the contractor. Why did they not inform the residents at the end of 2005 that the community was running a deficit?
Geraldine, UAE

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I am a resident of the GC who has paid the full amount of service charge, but I am not happy at all. I am living in a two bedroom apartment where I am paying almost the same service charge of a townhouse which is almost double the size of my apartment.
Anonymous, UAE

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Unlike many residents I am not afraid to speak out in relation to PI’s despicable bullying tactics and the way they have treated the residents at the Green Community.

They have acted in a manner somewhere in between gangsters and time-share cowboys giving Union Properties and Dubai generally a bad name.

If the increase is fair, I and I think most other residents are more than happy to pay it. What we object to is the bullying and threats which are reminiscent of apartheid days in South Africa. All we are asking is for somebody to sit down with our representatives in a calm and civilized manner.

The Directors of UP should take immediate action to restore confidence in what is essentially a great product – sack those responsible for this fiasco!
Jon, UAE

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Some fees have increased by 50% whilst others by over 300%. No rational explanation has been given. Management refused to accept letters protesting hikes when fees were paid. Management threatened residents with immediate lawsuits. It is disgraceful, and they put out misinformation as to whether residents have accepted the hikes. We have not!
Anne, UAE

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I am an owner of an apartment. The apartments are being charged a higher service charge than villas! This is ridiculous. Management services are lousy and lawns are NOT green: When we complain we are told that Dubai Investment Park are to do landscaping. It is extremely aggressive behaviour from management and calls or emails are never returned.
Anonymous, UAE

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This issue of fees is a contentious one as we the residents know. Clearly the treatment of GC residents by UP/PI management has been deplorable with the olive branch only extended to the community residents when our plight first made headline news – at a time when the much exalted regional property show was in progress.

My view is that we all have to pay for the services that we are provided but the cost of our services is higher than the average experienced across the region.

The argument that we enjoy fully developed communal areas is valid and I would expect to pay some additional uplift in costs for that but the fact remains that as Properties Investment managed all services provided, there are still grey areas of cost that thus far have not been explained fully – particularly those attributed to the chilled water supply.

I vote no, not satisfied.
Anonymous, UAE

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The sad fact is that the compound is/was great. It is the management which has behaved unprofessionally and dictatorially. Gardens have only been cleaned on the outside when I requested and this was last March and before that November.

To date there is nothing but weeds. There is no set pattern. My plants have died and I have witnessed sewerage coming out of my water pipe. The supervisor said I would have to wait a week as there were also blocked pipes throughout the compound and the main gardener was away who normally puts in the chemicals.

Where is the training and supervision for this holiday period? Perhaps if the management divided each gardener into an area which was revisited each week then owners would know and be able to work with these men directly. There is no direction from the top and unfortunately there have been three main property managers within the three years.

The last two expatriate ladies left suddenly and before any letters were sent out. I found out by ringing the office on both these accounts. We now have a gentleman who is less aware of our needs as a community and who knew nothing about insurance for apartments which had been deemed compulsory by PI.

Action needs to be taken to ensure the community is run properly and orderly, and as cheaply as possible whilst maintaining the standards we residents are accustomed to and were promised when we bought three years ago.
Anonymous, UAE

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The bullying tactics and lack of transparency are most concerning. One has to wonder what is in store for next year! The future of Dubai rests on sorting out these issues, so that owners and residents alike have a clear understanding of their rights.
Anonymous, UAE

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The Green Community is absolutely stunning – I went to look at some properties there and felt like I’d stepping into some tropical rainforest.

The exorbitant maintenance fees put me off buying there – I stuck to The Greens at half the service charge.

But, playing devil’s advocate: what do people expect? Fees for leasehold are high enough in other countries and there, you’re not getting pools, party rooms, gyms, leafy lanes and lush greenery – in the middle of a desert. It all costs money.

The issue for me here is that the charge should have been set at a sensible and transparent amount right from the start – rather than being subsidised but without telling the buyers – so the poor people who bought when the fees seemed a real bargain weren’t left with a nasty shock as they suddenly sky-rocketed.

For me, looking to buy now when I know how much the Green Community REALLY costs, I was able to realistically compare fees with other developments.
Suzanne, UAE

X-PRESS 17-JUNE-07

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